Partners Part 2
by Mint Julip59
Summary: Dempsey goes back to the States to gain closure unfortunately his methods for dealing with the dirty cops in the NYPD seriously damages his relationship with Makepeace and the faux engagement is terminated. Can their friendship survive? (Partners is the first part of this story).
1. Chapter 1

_This is the second part of the Partners story I hope you like it, I'm not as confident about the second part and that's why it's taken me a while to post. Anyway, I hope you like it._

Harry was surprised when James turned up on her doorstep, she hadn't expected to see him tonight as he'd been in a long-involved conversation with Spikings when she left the office. 'I thought tonight was the night when I washed my hair or something,' she challenged him.

'Yeah I know but I got news and I need to tell you about it.' He followed her in and shut the door. Dempsey explained why he'd been closeted with Spikings for the last couple of hours.

'You've been recalled,' Harry frowned. 'Can they do that? I mean you work here now,' her gaze searched his. She'd known that he would have to go back to New York to testify against Coltrane but then Coltrane had been killed by a mafia hitman before he came to trial so she'd assumed that would be the end of it.

'I was only here on a loan; they want me back to clean up their mess. Root out the cops on the take, I hate dirty cops. I've been out of the NYPD for four years so they reckon I could go undercover and get the job done.'

'Wouldn't that be dangerous James,' she touched his arm. 'What if someone recognises you?' Harry hated the idea of him going back there and all the bad memories it would have for him and then there was also Simone and presumably other ex-girlfriends. 'Do you have to go?'

'I feel like I owe it to Joey,' his dark gaze held hers. 'If there'd been someone like me around who'd got rid of Coltrane then my partner might still be alive. He was getting married; I was gonna be his best man.' The American looked down, 'I still miss the guy, it's hard you know.'

Harry wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him to her. She knew how loyal Dempsey was to those he cared about and she knew Joey's betrayal had hurt him unbearably, he still had nightmares about it.

'You shot him in self-defence,' Harry reminded him. 'There must be other officers in the NYPD who could do it, why does it have to be you?'

Dempsey looked down at her and could see she was worried about him, 'I have to go Harry, it's important to me. It won't be forever I'll be back before you know it.'

'You never know you might be glad to be home,' Harry said lightly but it was a very real fear that Dempsey might want to stay in New York once he got used to being back there.

'Harry, I'll always be there for you, you know that,' he tipped up her chin so he could look into her eyes, 'those blue eyes of yours'll be haunting me every minute I'm away.'

'Did you get that from a book, Dempsey? It sounded almost romantic,' she quipped as she knew she was in danger of an emotional meltdown at him leaving her and wanted to lighten the mood.

'Nah, straight from the heart,' he rubbed his nose against hers, 'I'll be back princess, got to come back and claim my fake fiancée,' he smiled and then kissed her gently.

'When do you go,' she asked her body tensing as if expecting a blow. She had known she was passionately attracted to Dempsey but in truth she'd miss his company more than anything.

'Day after tomorrow,' he growled. 'I know it's short notice but the quicker I go the sooner I'll be back.'

'I suppose so,' she buried her face in his chest and breathed in the scent of him. 'If you're undercover it may not be easy for you to phone,' she said quietly.

'I'll phone,' he kissed her hair, he felt troubled at leaving her like some dark cloud was hanging over him. He had to put things right in New York, had to have some difficult conversations too when it was all over. He could come back to her then without the burdens that were weighing him down and be the sort of guy she deserved.

-oOo-

Harry and Joyce had been given a high profile case the 'Ritz robbers' as the papers called it; a high-class hooker had made off with a priceless piece of art that had adorned the hotel room whilst a very wealthy, business tycoon had stayed there. The piece of art along with others was his way of personalizing rooms as he travelled widely.

A spate of robberies followed all with a 'posh'call girl seeming to be in the mix. Harry knew one of her friends had been lured into that scene and decided to go and meet her and see what she knew.

'When is Dempsey coming back? The trial seems to be taking a while; how much longer will it take?' Joyce questioned Harry who seemed to be miles away after she'd asked the question.

'It's complicated. The Mafia killed Coltrane as they thought he might squeal and Dempsey is helping with the clean-up of the cops within the NYPD, he's taking care of the corruption; it's all taking time as dead men tell no tales which of course was the purpose of the hit.'

'Oh, that must be difficult for you both,' Hargreaves responded sympathetically as she knew very well there were strong feelings on both sides even if they weren't about to admit it.

'Dempsey's gone under cover to root out the rotten cops and I haven't heard from him for weeks which isn't uncommon but he hasn't got me covering his back and that is a cause for concern. I've always tried to temper his recklessness and it's worked reasonably well.'

Joyce picked up her tea and nodded understanding only too well. 'I'm glad Christopher's in banking which has its board room assassinations but it doesn't usually involve a trip to A & E.'

Makepeace smiled wryly as she had some sympathy with Joyce's observation. 'I'm going to contact an old girlfriend later, she's a high-class escort, she may be able to help with the Ritz robbery; it's either that or go under cover and I'm not really keen on that idea but we'll see.'

'I'm sure we can find another way, don't rush into any under-cover work Harry, it's bad enough that Dempsey is neck deep in it; when he comes back he'll expect to find you here.'

'Yes well, I may have wrapped it up by then and anyway it's my job to make the call on what options are available and Spikings wants some progress as he's getting some heat from upstairs.' She clicked her pen on an off a couple of times which showed her agitation, 'I'll see you later.'

-oOo—

'Hi Tiff,' Makepeace had found her old friend back at her parents' manor house in Oxfordshire, 'I'd like to have a word,' she smiled in a friendly manner.

Tiffany looked very awkward but suggested they go to the summer house and asked the housekeeper to have some tea brought out to them. 'Mummy and Daddy don't approve of you being a copper Harry,' the beautiful young woman informed her wryly.

Harry gave a dry laugh, 'I do get the odd whiff of disapproval from some of our family friends so I'm used to it; do they know about your profession which to be honest is probably a lot older than mine.'

The dark haired young woman coloured with embarrassment, 'no, they do not. They think my catering business failed to thrive and I'm currently working out what to do next. Luckily those people I knew in London aren't in our circle but every time daddy brings a new acquaintance home I die a thousand deaths after all we were often given false names of the people we were providing an escort service too.

'Do you still have contacts in that world,' Harry asked hopefully and her friend shook her head.

'Not likely, I've dropped all those shall we say acquaintances and I'm not in the least inclined to pick them up, in fact I'm thinking of going to France and pursuing a cordon bleu course to improve my skills.'

'I did that, my aunt thought it was a valuable asset on the marriage mart, it comes in useful from time to time and I do enjoy cooking when I have time.' Harry eyed her friend fondly. 'I need some names of high class hookers or their, shall we say, management. There are a number of high profile robberies and it's my job to sort that out.'

'Oh yes, the Ritz robbers, it's been all over the papers.' Tiff looked thoughtful, 'well I can give you some names but I can't be brought into this in fact if I do give you the names I will accelerate my move to Bordeaux,' she bit her lip nervously. 'They're not very nice people Harry, you need to be careful. I doubt the girls will tell you much they'd all be too frightened of reprisals.'

Harry nodded. 'Well as you can imagine I'm used to dealing with not very nice people; it's part of the day job,' her blue gaze met her friends. 'Give me the names Tiff and good luck with the trip to Bordeaux, I'm glad you're out of that game it doesn't end well in my experience.'

-oOo-

Harry was called into Spikings office to meet a new officer they'd been donated from C.I.D. his name was Sergeant Steve Bradshaw. Spikings made the introductions and it was obvious that Bradshaw was somewhat disgruntled at having a female boss.

'We don't have female officers in C.I.D.,' he pointed out. 'I don't think it would work, no offence Makepeace. I'd rather be in Jarvis's team as your Yank has something of a reputation.'

'No offence taken Sergeant but as you're assigned to me you will address me as Detective Inspector and you will keep any chauvinistic remarks to the privacy of your own home.' Her cool blue stare assured him that she meant business and hadn't been promoted because she was the Division's mascot or cheer leader.

Bradshaw ignored her and looked at Spikings for support and was surprised when none was forthcoming.

'I suggest you put the Sergeant on the Ritz case Harry as we inherited it from C.I.D. and Bradshaw will have contacts there for any detail we haven't been made privy too.' His dark gaze met that of the blonde officer, 'I'm sure the Sergeant will settle down once he gets used to the way we do things here and I don't think he'd last five minutes with D.I. Dempsey.'

'Certainly sir, I'm sure we'll rub along.' Harry exited the office and noted Bradshaw didn't follow but she left his expulsion from Spikings lair to the Chief Inspector and she could see that the interchange in the office was not going the Sergeant's way. A small smile played around her lips, Spikings had always believed in her and been her mentor so the officer from C.I.D. was on a sticky wicket if he thought he could overturn any decision her senior officer had made.

Hargreaves came in to give her the report on the clubs owned by the escort service they were investigating which were owned by one Angelo Fiorelli. She looked over at Spikings office and smirked. 'It looks like Bradshaw's getting his initiation.'

'Hmm… Apparently, the Sergeant doesn't like the idea of working for a woman perhaps I'll pair him up with you Joyce, working for and with a female officer would probably make his day.'

'No thanks, I'll leave you to knock the edges off him first; I'm just about getting to some kind of understanding with Watson and that's taken eighteen months.'

Harry smiled and nodded. 'Don't worry he's going to work with me on the Ritz robberies and if I do go undercover he'll be my control which will perhaps make him feel a little bit better about it.'

Joyce frowned at that as she didn't like the idea of her friend Harry going undercover as an escort with the added risk of a newbie being her control. 'Are you sure Harry, it's a dangerous operation and Bradshaw doesn't understand the way we work yet. I think it's introducing a level of risk that…

'Joyce you'll have to stop clucking around me like a mother hen. I'm an experienced undercover operative and working on some of our latest operations has been small beer compared to working with D.I. Dempsey. I won't do anything rash,' she promised her eyes dancing.

'I'm beginning to think you got used to an adrenaline high working with Jim and you're missing your fix,' Hargreaves observed dryly. 'You're the D.I. but I'd seriously suggest you think twice about assigning a new officer as your control.' With that she left Makepeace's office to go on a stakeout with Watson and was quite touched to note he'd brought sandwiches and coffee for them both.

-oOo-


	2. Chapter 2

Flying back to London was like coming home which was weird. Dempsey'd spent months in the U.S. assisting with the review of the NYPD to clean out the poison that had been left behind. He'd taken over from O'Grady and been given a Captain's role so that was cool and they couldn't apologise enough for his exile because of a 'few bad apples,' in the force. So, his career was going well but he missed SI10 and he missed his partner, Harry Makepeace. Those blue eyes of hers haunted his dreams and the transatlantic phone calls where they were both polite didn't really work for him.

He had a meet with Spikings and the Police Commissioner on opportunities he might like to pursue as the British seemed to have imported American style crime and he was there 'go to' guy on that. Makepeace had been partnered with a guy called Bradshaw, yeah Steve Bradshaw and she'd been very non-committal about him which irked the former Lieutenant. He didn't like the idea of Harry spending all that time with another guy, he'd asked Chas about him and D.I. Jarvis had been his usual self which meant he kept his thoughts to himself. 'New to SI10, finding his feet,' was the brusque response. 'Finding his feet,' what the hell did that mean?

Dempsey had told Harry when he was getting in to Heathrow and she said she'd arrange his transport from the airport. He was hoping that meant she'd be there at the meet and greet but technically she hadn't actually said that. It had been two weeks since their last call and after that she'd never been home when he'd rang which was weird because he'd varied the times he'd rang to try and catch her in.

A stranger with a board with his name on was there to meet him and he was duly transported by the chauffeur to his apartment or flat as they called it over here. His meeting with Spikings wasn't until the following day but he felt uneasy about Harry so he ignored the jet lag and got in his car and drove over to SI10 with a feeling of anticipation as well as concern.

Spikings was in a meeting with Chas and another officer when he entered the familiar home of SI10 and he looked at Harry's office, no Harry in there. Fry, Watson and Morrison all gathered round and asked him a million questions but he wasn't there for that. 'Where's Makepeace?' He looked from one face to another.

'Not sure,' Watson replied. 'Bradshaw's in there with Spikings and Chas, guess he's getting the third degree because he doesn't seem to know where she is. They were working on a case with some Mafia connection, some of Giardino's mob maybe.' That's as far as he got as Dempsey ignored protocol and stormed into Spikings office.

'What's going on, where's Harry,' he thundered. He could see Spikings was looking apoplectic but that didn't seem to be aimed at him.

Bradshaw shrugged. 'She's always following hunches on her own, she doesn't keep me informed and last time I saw her she was working a hotel dressed as a high-class hooker.'

'What do you mean she don't keep you informed? You're her partner, right?' Dempsey's tone should have warned the newbie that he was on dangerous ground.

'Well I was assigned as her control but she won't follow my direction, thinks she knows it all and now whatever she knows has disappeared with her.' Bradshaw didn't look too concerned about that because he felt ridiculous having a female boss and especially a snooty stuck up bitch who didn't know a woman's place was on her back.

'You didn't check on her, you didn't arrange any kind of communication?' The Yank didn't like Bradshaw's lax manner and had started to look dangerous.

'Dempsey,' Spikings tried to calm the situation down. 'Sergeant Bradshaw was acting as D.I. Makepeace's control. She was supposed to call him at 6 p.m. in the evening and that hasn't happened for the last two weeks so…

'Two weeks and now you're concerned,' the decibel level was ear shattering. He grabbed Bradshaw by the shirt. 'When did you raise the alarm, numb nuts?'

Bradshaw pushed the Yank off and looked aggressive. 'I raised the alarm yesterday because it seemed to me that I should have heard something from her even if she's maintaining deep cover,' he shrugged. 'Went up west a couple of times to try and spot her but no sign.'

'Two weeks?' Dempsey glowered at the other detective.

'To be fair you've been out of contact longer,' Spikings intervened. 'He got out the file and displayed photographs of the bunch Harry had been monitoring. 'This man Angelo Fiorelli runs the girls in the West End, he's a kind of super pimp if you will. If Harry's in trouble his lot may have something to do with it.'

Dempsey looked at the other photographs and spotted some familiar faces. Some of these gentlemen are known to my contacts, I'll make some enquiries. 'Boss, you covering me for this, I need a weapon for dealing with these guys.'

'Only if you team up with Bradshaw to find Harry,' Spikings knew what Dempsey was like when Harry was threatened and didn't want any kind of difficulty ensuing and at least Bradshaw played it by the rules which was probably why he didn't get on particularly well with Makepeace. Makepeace had been tutored by the former Lieutenant now Captain so she was a little more flexible with the rulebook than her new partner.

'Okay well let's establish who's giving the orders here boss, I outrank the Sergeant and I know the territory better so if we want to get Makepeace back I'd suggest you put me in charge of this.'

Much to Bradshaw's annoyance the Chief Inspector nodded in agreement, 'an officer's safety is at stake here and we've got to put any ego issues aside and find D.I. Makepeace. Dempsey I'd like a word,' Spikings dismissed the other men.

Bradshaw was outraged that he'd been put under the Yank, 'he's NYPD, he doesn't even work here?' He exploded with annoyance to Chas as the office door closed.

'He's Harry's best chance, he knows how she thinks and likely outcomes,' D.I. Jarvis said in his usual calm tones. 'Partners for three years, successful team and Dempsey knows all about the Giardino's just been cleansing the NYPD of their influence. Expert on the mafia so he's always been Spikings number one for this type of operation.' Chas made an appointment with the Super because the boss would near clearance to re-assign Dempsey and then he made a quick call to Lord Winfield as he was known to pull a few strings from time to time and would do everything in his power to protect his daughter.

The American found his SI10 I.D. and gun authorised in a very short period of time as Lord Winfield had used his contacts and they in turn had used their influence with the Home Office.

Dempsey looked at Spikings, 'I'm not impressed with your recruiting process that guy's a waste of space,' he put his re-issued identification in his breast pocket and checked his gun. 'I'll go talk to the girls see what they know, they like me,' he smirked. 'And I'll talk to Sergeant numb nuts to see what he's got,' he growled.

'Do what you have to, Dempsey. Find out where Makepeace is and call her in, it's not like Harry to stay out of contact. I know you're very blasé about protocol but the Detective Inspector is not despite her partnership with you.'

'Yeah it ain't like Harry,' the American agreed. 'Don't' worry I'll find her boss even if I have to tear this town apart, I'll find her.'

The Chief Inspector was absolutely sure he would tear the town apart and that was a matter of concern but he was more concerned about his female recruit. She was brave and loyal and he owed her and Spikings always looked out for his team. 'Tread carefully,' Spikings warned him with a dart of a glance. 'Harry may be in grave danger and we don't want to make certain people nervous; scared people make bad decisions,' he growled.

-oOo—

Bradshaw regarded Dempsey with hostility as the Yank sat down opposite him and stared at him without saying a word.

'If this is an NYPD interrogation technique it won't wash here,' Bradshaw sneered as he folded his arms and glared back at the American.

'Tell me what you know, which girls was Makepeace talking to when you last saw her, what were their names?'

'Do they have names? Slag one, two and three as far as I'm concerned,' the Sergeant muttered.

'Yes, they have names you idiot jerk and if you knew the names we'd be in a better position to find the Detective Inspector.' The American officer was annoyed with the way Bradshaw dismissed the hookers, people were people, and sometimes life didn't turn out like you expected or wanted.

Bradshaw lit a cigarette and smirked eyeing Dempsey through the smoke. 'You seem very upset about Makepeace going A.W.O.L. was she one of your birds then? I hear you have quite a reputation with the ladies, well done if you got into the Ice Maiden's knickers; I salute you,' he'd hardly got the words out before Dempsey had him up against the wall gasping for breath as the cigarette fell out of his mouth.

'You don't talk about her that way capiche, she's a fellow officer and nobody talks about her like that,' he let go of the other guy but still looked dangerous. 'Now, we're going for a little trip to the Dorchester, Ritz etcetera and you will look very closely at the girls and tell me who Makepeace was talking to; you got that. YOU GOT THAT!' The decibel level made the other guys wince and they watched with something approaching cynical amusement as Bradshaw follow in Dempsey's wake.

Fry looked awe struck, 'I don't like Steve that much but I almost feel sorry for him,' Morrison and Watson nodded in empathy.

'If anything's happened to Harry, Dempsey will go loco, I know that much,' Watson looked from one to the other. 'Don't exactly know what they have going on with the engagement business but whatever it is I wouldn't be in Bradshaw's shoes right now.'

'No but then Steve's sore because he tried it on with Harry and she told him to get lost and he's never forgiven her for that,' Morrison added more to the internal tension they all felt at Harry's absence. 'And I don't care what Bradshaw says two weeks is too long to leave it if you're the control, he should have raised the alarm earlier.'

Spikings was furious with Bradshaw too but didn't think throwing the book at him at this particular juncture would really help the situation they were in. He was relieved that the Yank had turned up as it was Harry's best chance. Dempsey was a very successful officer and he also took the role of partner very seriously as Bradshaw was about to find out.

-oOo—

'So, which of the girls looks familiar,' Dempsey sat in the bar and noted a couple of the ladies present as potential, being a cop you got a feel for these things.

Bradshaw shrugged, 'not sure the red head might have been one of them. If she is a redhead; probably a wig. They change their look to refresh the scene for the punters and reduce the chances of being thrown out by the hotel management.'

'Yeah well, it's called making a living,' Dempsey growled and got up. 'Stay here,' he grated as he went towards the girl Bradshaw had pointed out.

He smiled as he came up to the young woman, 'Evening angel. 'Looking for a girl, course I'm looking for a girl, thought you might know her she's in the same line of business.' He took out a photo of Harry from some ball they'd been to way back. 'You seen her?'

'She looks familiar but I have a remarkably short memory?' The girl wasn't stupid and time was money. It was a pity he wasn't interested in her services; he was an attractive man.

Dempsey got out a fifty, 'more where this came from if you tell me where she is; she ran out on me and I'm eager to be reacquainted.' His charming smile took away any threat to the blonde that might have been implied.

The redhead smiled but her gaze mocked him, in truth she envied the other woman's conquest, there was something about the posh tart that seemed to reel in the punters. 'Well I'm afraid you've got competition darling, Angelo likes your Sharon and he's taken her away from all this and offered her some cushy number in one of his clubs, private clubs you understand.'

'Oh, I understand honey, well it's been real nice talking to you. If you see her don't say anything; want it to be a surprise when we meet up.' He re-joined Bradshaw at the bar and glanced across at the jerk Harry'd been partnered with. 'So, she's working in one of the clubs, I know a couple of them, what do you know?'

'It's in the files back at the office, Hargreaves had them all mapped out, can't remember off the top of my head to be honest.'

'Right well let's get back there and then we can send officers undercover to each one simultaneously, that sound like a plan to you Bradshaw or you got something else figured out? Harry won't be giving Angelo any so sooner or later he'll get fed up of getting a no and then she's in trouble, so we need to know which club and make sure she can get assistance. That was your job Sergeant Numbnuts but you don't seem to have quite got the hang of it.'

Bradshaw's temper fired at the Yank's way of addressing him, he was a competent officer with a number or years in the force and two of them in C.I.D. 'I told you, Makepeace didn't discuss her game plan with me, she kept it to herself and now she's in trouble, big surprise. If you don't play by the rules then you lose big time, it's her own fault.'

'Yeurgh,' Dempsey's tone of disgust didn't need translation as he took the wheel and drove them full speed back to SI10 to organise the retrieve.

-oOo—


	3. Chapter 3

_Just to get you all caught up with the spoiler in the story description and after all you do need some conflict to keep the story going….._

Bradshaw looked on with irritation as the Yank briefed SI10's officers. The guy seemed to effortlessly wield authority over the odd balls that made up the team under Spikings command.

'You guys, your job is to go in and be punters at the clubs, you've all got your specific locations. If you see D.I. Makepeace you don't make contact unless she's in trouble, if she's in trouble then you give her back up. If you see her, you call in and tell me and I'll join you. When I go in Watson and Jarvis are my wingmen, they cover my ass while I secure Harry. Everyone got that.'

They all nodded and did the various checks for guns, ammunition and I.D., before they left.

Bradshaw was looking dangerous. 'What am I supposed to do in your grand plan, so far you've failed to give me a location, Makepeace is my partner I should be the one to go in.'

Dempsey looked dangerous but didn't respond immediately and he caught Spikings' eye and reigned it in. 'You get to man the R.T. with the chief and work with the Met if we need back up from the uniforms.'

'Doesn't Jarvis usually do that,' Bradshaw sneered. 'I'm not an office boy; I'm a field trained operative. The Sergeant didn't seem to realise his charm offensive was running a bit thin. So far, he'd lost Makepeace and now potentially insulted Detective Inspector Jarvis who used to be Spikings runner the job now designated to Fry.

'I'm comfortable with D.I. Jarvis as my backup,' Dempsey responded his gaze battling with the other man's. He didn't trust Bradshaw and he weren't having him along. He could see Spikings was on the same page both of them were critical of the officer's role as Harry's control.

The American got a coffee and paced the floor until the reports started coming in, he was running on adrenaline; concerned for his former partner if anything had happened to Harry he'd tear Bradshaw limb from limb. It was only his bloodthirsty imagination that was keeping his heart's fear at bey.

Spikings signalled him and handed him a location, 'Harry's been sighted, she appears to be dining with Angelo Fiorelli who seems somewhat besotted with D.I. Makepeace, I understand that expensive jewellery's involved.'

Dempsey took in a deep steadying breath and then nodded, the team's relief at finding their colleague was palpable, Harry was popular and well respected and they'd all feared the worst. 'I'll play the original cover, Sharon's husband Sam Jackson,' he went into the locker room and changed into his tuxedo, dress shirt and dark dress pants he left the bow tie as a ribbon around his neck; changing his clothes gave him time to reign his emotions in. 'Ain't no way anyone's schmoozing my girl,' he growled as he checked his gun and ammo. 'Right let's get to it, follow my lead you've got my back,' he threw at Watson and Jarvis.

Bradshaw looked furious but manned the R.T. with all the teams and reported regularly to Spikings as to what was going down. 'Dempsey's going in, I predict a bloodbath but then I'm new to SI10 so what do I know,' Makepeace's partner added tersely.

'He knows what he's doing,' Spikings lit a cigarette. 'The Captain is more than familiar with the territory and my guess is he'll extract the girl without breaking her cover. I'm not entirely sure I want Makepeace to continue with this operation but that's a decision that can be made later.' He dragged on the cigarette and viewed Bradshaw through the haze, 'when this is over we'll have a chat you and I but that can also happen later.'

-oOo—

Harry viewed the heavy diamond bracelet around her wrist with some trepidation. She'd managed to keep Angelo sweet so far and played hostess in the club. Her role was to make sure the gentlemen attending were never without drinks or canapes and to ensure that the girls guided them to the gaming tables in the other rooms. It was a highly sort after position as it didn't involve favours to any of the punters.

Angelo had been fixated with her since the moment he'd seen her talking to Rowena at the Dorchester and she'd played the flirtation game but she didn't know if she could fend him off for much longer. Now Dempsey would say go with the cover but she really didn't want to have sex with Angelo Fiorelli for the sake of a possible collar. They could arrest Angelo for illegal gaming but that was small beer compared to the string of robberies and she was still short of evidence on that so there was no chance of a conviction.

Bradshaw had been a waste of space and never seemed to be around when she tried to contact him; she'd almost been tempted to phone Chas or Spikings but knew that it would end her partner's career and she tended to handle these things personally rather than officially.

'Don't you like diamonds,' Angelo's voice sounded rather petulant and it had an underlying thread of anger lacing the silky tone. He took a drag on his thin cigarillo as his gaze wandered over the blonde in a possessive manner.

'Well of course,' she smiled at him. 'I can't accept it though it's too expensive,' she saw his dark eyes narrow and she supposed as a former escort her refusal to accept the gift would seem a little off. The music hummed around her and Harry almost wished she smoked; she felt a little nervous and intensely aware of her vulnerability. Fiorelli owned these people, not the punters of course but the rest of them, if he said jump they said how high. Normally if she was working on something like this she'd have Dempsey or Hargreaves as her back up and her odds would be better.

'I'd be offended if you refused my gift,' his fingertips moved the bracelet on her arm and then picked up her hand admiring the diamonds and the way they sparked in the light. 'It's beautiful, like you although maybe sapphires are your stone.'

Harry's eyes widened as she heard a familiar voice and she wondered if she was hallucinating her mind creating her dark knight in leather and denim or in this case a tuxedo. Her heart began beating like a drum and then she remembered Dempsey would have returned by now and she recognised this game play. 'Sam,' she said in a voice that held alarm.

Angelo looked at her, 'what is it?' He was annoyed at the interruption of his charm offensive, he was a handsome man and most of the girls here would be flattered by his attention. Was that why he found her so fascinating? She was different to the rest of them she had more self-respect, and some kind of inbuilt confidence that he found irresistible and all he knew is he wanted her more than any other female he'd ever met.

'It's not what? It's who, it's my…. Harry's pulse rate had rocketed as soon as she heard the American accent at the bar and if she looked flustered it was absolutely genuine. Her skin went cold then hot and she could feel herself trembling. Keep it together idiot, she chastised herself as she turned to face her ex-partner.

'Sharon baby,' Dempsey swaggered over his warm gaze travelling over her possessively and that wasn't an act either as he didn't want that piece of scum touching her. 'You never write you don't call, who's this schmuck and what's this?' Dempsey flicked a finger against the bracelet. He turned and viewed Fiorelli dangerously, 'you coming on to my little piece of paradise,' he acted drunk but the belligerence was genuine.

Makepeace quickly intervened getting back into her role. 'He's just a friend Sam, gave me a job when you left me high and dry. You gave me up when you went back to New York, you bastard,' she threw a drink in his face.

The American didn't like that much and could see Makepeace was determined to stay in role. He decided to be a world class jerk as they needed to make the extraction quickly before Fiorelli's goons had a chance to get organised. He wiped his face with a napkin and glared at her. 'Guess you've forgotten what's due to your husband.' He turned to Chas and Watson, 'here she is guys, my very own ball and chain, till death do us part,' he grabbed her arm and pulled her out of her seat. 'Now you,' he pointed his finger at Angelo, 'you leave my girl alone. She ain't working here no more,' he grabbed the bracelet and yanked it off her wrist and dropped it in Fiorelli's drink. 'There you go, scotch on the rocks, and don't think of messing with me,' he parted his jacket and showed the gun. 'She ain't giving notice, she's done.' He slung a belligerent Sharon over his shoulder and took his gun in his other hand.

Harry thumped Dempsey on the back as carrying her was bound to affect his aim if this ended in a fight, he slid her down his body his gaze on Angelo and his monkeys who were hanging back somewhat after they'd seen the Magnum. 'Take her to the car,' he growled at his protection and then they all moved to the door and made a controlled exit with Sharon giving her unreliable husband a blistering earful.

-oOo—

Harry was puzzled as to why Dempsey was leading the operation to retrieve her but was somewhat grateful to be out of what had become a very difficult situation. 'I did wonder when the cavalry would turn up but I hardly expected you to lead the charge Dempsey, where's Sergeant Bradshaw?'

'Welcome back James, good to see you,' her former partner responded sarcastically. 'Thanks for saving my ass,' he added pointedly. 'Bradshaw's back at the office making tea for Spikings. That guy can't find his ass with two hands so I declined to involve him in the retrieve.' He turned to look at her as he was in the front passenger seat and Chas was driving. 'What the hell were you thinking, you don't keep contact with your control are you crazy?'

'Well I did try but he never seemed to be in. I had to vary the times of the call due to my, shall we say, difficult situation. Angelo Fiorelli never took his eyes off me so nipping out to make a call wasn't that easy.' Harry was aware that the operation had gone somewhat pear shaped and she could imagine that her old partner would have more to say on that subject as he'd always been very protective when they'd been partnered.

Dempsey was mad at her for risking herself and seeing Fiorelli all over her hadn't improved his temper. Why was the guy so obsessed with her; had she been giving him some? That thought didn't sit well with him. 'You should have called yourself in,' Dempsey growled at her.

'Pot calling kettle,' Harry responded with her usual cool sarcasm, she remembered a number of times when the Lieutenant had disappeared when she was his control. 'How did you know I had reprised my role as an up-market Sharon Jackson?' Her curiosity got the better of her and she ignored Dempsey's negative body language.

'Rowena, one of the girls working the Dorchester, she identified you Shar so Sam the man was the natural choice to maintain your cover though going back would be high risk. They're bound to check us out, specially as I was packing.'

Chas drove into SI10's car park and the team walked into the offices to meet with the Chief Inspector and Sergeant Bradshaw. 'Good to see you Harry,' Spikings looked relieved. 'I conclude the extraction went well I haven't had any complaints from the Commissioner about mayhem in the metropolis.'

'We had the element of surprise,' Dempsey responded picking up a piece of pizza that someone had thoughtfully ordered in. 'And I don't think Fiorelli wanted to risk Tinkerbell here, getting caught in the crossfire.'

Harry crossed her arms over the décolletage revealed by the sapphire blue, sequinned cocktail dress she was wearing and looked put out. 'I haven't got enough information for a conviction on the robberies yet, all we can book them for is illegal gambling, a smart lawyer would get them off with a fine and tax evasion.'

'You're not going back in,' Dempsey growled at her. 'It's too risky, we'll have to get the information some other way,' he accepted a mug of coffee from Spikings secretary who smiled at him happily as he was a something of a favourite with the ladies.

That got a disdainful flick of the lashes from Makepeace who was always sarcastic about the Yank's ability to charm the gullible women in the Met.

'It's hardly your call,' Bradshaw bit out. 'We've been on this case for months' sir, what's it got to do with Dempsey,' the rest of the officers sensed a fight and a palpable thread of excitement pulsed in the dingy offices.

'Oh, so you were on the case,' Dempsey turned on him. 'Hard to tell, since you didn't know where your partner was and the addresses of Fiorelli's clubs were in Sergeant Hargreaves file and you couldn't remember the locations. You're a fucking investigative genius, numb nuts.'

At that point Bradshaw went for the Yank and the desk got barged aside as Dempsey got the guy up against a wall and was yelling in his face.

'Sir, do you think you could… intervene,' Harry suggested in a cool tone as she winced at the decibel level and the rather colourful language employed by her former partner.

'Put him down Dempsey and that's a formal request from SI10 to the NYPD, Captain.' Spikings smiled at the brief glimpse of surprise on Harry's face at the job title. Promotion was like catnip to the female of the species and Dempsey's macho charm seemed to have won over even the aristocratic Lady Harriet Winfield.'

'Captain,' she qualified sounding the title out. 'I quite liked Lieutenant it had a ring to it,' she was oblivious to the dark heat coming her way from the American as she was used to his moods.

'If I ever impress you be sure to tell me,' he drawled sarcastically. He loosened his grip on Bradshaw and let go of his throat, 'don't ever try that again,' he slammed at the other officer. 'This time I was nice.' He came back over to Spikings and Makepeace. 'Seriously though, the guys got some kind of thing for Harry and she ain't safe going back in.' His dark eyes met those of the blonde officer and the battle of wills was only too apparent. 'No way princess, for once you're gonna listen.'

'Ha, D.I. Makepeace didn't listen to you either which proves my point,' Bradshaw wasn't' about to be silenced by this lot of miscreants.

'I am here,' Harry responded she was getting ticked off with the male contingent. 'Perhaps we can sort this out in the morning as I'm tired and I haven't been back home for weeks…

'You ain't going nowhere on your own Harry, the guy's gonna look for you and he'll be gunning for me so what you got Fry, we need a safe location.'

'He won't be looking for me at my place,' the female detective protested.

'Good we'll go there then,' Dempsey gave her a wince of a smile. 'Got a few things I need to go over with you angel so let's go, and if we could have a few uniforms to patrol the area that would be swell.'

Harry glared at Dempsey as he was more than obviously staking some kind of claim on her which to be honest might have been thrilling if she didn't know he was going to read her the riot act about the recent operation. 'Look Captain Dempsey, I really don't think….

'True, your brains fallen out and I'm gonna see if I can put it back, after you Inspector,' he took her arm and guided her out of the offices much to the amusement of the team and much to the ire of Bradshaw who had his own opinion of the ex-partner's relationship which he was only too willing to share.

-oOo—

Harry walked into her house and sighed with relief, it was good to be home. She was very aware of Dempsey's presence as he circled around her and then came up to her well and truly invading her personal space. It forced her to look up at him and her breath hitched slightly at the warmth in his gaze and the challenge; it did something to her pulse rate that she really didn't want to think about.

The blonde got her defence in first, 'Bradshaw hates being paired with a woman so he plays everything by the book and only being available for my calls at 6 p.m., the stipulated time, would be his way of making a point. I called when I could but it was difficult with Fiorelli breathing down my neck all the time. Don't look at me like that Dempsey I played it the best way I could,' she fired back as his gaze mocked her.

'So, Fiorelli buys you diamonds; guys don't usually provide the ice honey unless they are getting something for it; that's guy code 101,' he tipped up her chin and searched her eyes and got a furious flash of sapphire for that one.

'I would say how dare you but unfortunately I know better,' Harry jerked her chin away and moved away from him only to be hauled back. 'Dempsey what the hell do you think you're doing, look I'm tired and….

'And I've flown all the way over the ocean; been away for six months and you ain't got a hello for me. C'mon Harry we're better than that,' he ran his hands soothingly down her arms. 'I don't like that punk pawing all over you; he's a psycho in a business suit; you ain't safe with him angel. Guy's like that don't play nice, or if they do it don't last long. I'm back now and you ain't working with Bradshaw for another minute; you're my partner and I'm still looking out for you.'

Harry sighed and met his gaze her expression contrite, 'I'm sorry I should have welcomed you back properly, do you want a drink?'

'Better,' he smiled at her with a warmth that made her skin heat, 'yes I'd like a drink, scotch on the rocks,' he grinned at her his childish smile appearing.

'Got no bleeding rocks here mate, you'll have to do with a lump of ice,' she took on Sharon's personae as she made her way to the drinks cabinet swaying her hips in the manner of the earlier incarnation. 'So, Sam the man, what have you been up to apart from the trial and of course the promotion. Is this just a flying visit or are you coming back to work?' Harry asked the question lightly but she knew in her heart that she wanted him back to stay and hardly dared hope that he would want that too. It didn't occur to her to make that desire overt; it wasn't her way.

'Got an appointment with Spikings and the Commissioner to discuss that tomorrow; depends what they've got to offer. I'm good at what I do but I ain't being tied up in red tape so we'll see.' He accepted the drink off her and clinked his glass with hers. 'Partners,' he raised a toast, 'I'll always be there for you princess, want you to know that.'

'Thank you,' she smiled at him softly with a hint of shyness, 'and I'll always have your back Dempsey, you know that too.'

He nodded and put his drink down and took hers off her and enveloped her in a bear hug which took her off her feet and he laughed when she gave an outraged gasp. 'C'mon Makepeace it's just a hug,' he put her down on her feet and smiled at her as he went over to her couch and relaxed putting his feet up on her coffee table. 'So, can I stay over,' he winked at her.

'That's rather presumptuous,' she sat down next to him. 'Bradshaw's an ass I'm going to ask for a divorce,' she sipped her wine and her eyes slid sideways to glance at him.

'Yeah you can cite unreasonable behaviour, a guy should be glued to the phone waiting for a classy dame like you,' he looked amused as he sank the whisky. 'Only took me a couple of hours to find you Makepeace, on your scent in a hot damn minute.'

'Thank you for that image James,' she mocked him but her blue gaze held a hint of flirtation which he didn't miss.

I got a homing instinct where you're concerned,' he leaned over and gave her a brief kiss on the mouth and then gave a low moan and moved in for the kill.

Only to find her fingers on his lips. 'Not tonight Dempsey, I've overdosed on male admiration for one night thank you very much.' She could see he didn't like that and her blue eyes were amused at that sulky, brooding thing he did so well. 'We haven't seen each other for six months you can't just walk in here and expect me to fall into your arms. I mean what have you been doing in all that time; did you see Simone?'

'And if I did would that bother you,' his gaze narrowed on hers as a becoming flush of colour warmed her cheeks.

'Well if you did or picked up with any of your old contacts as it were I would want to know,' her blue eyes met his; the challenge only too apparent. She may as well have said, 'your move.'

'What I did or didn't do don't matter,' he took her wine off her. 'I came home and my first thought was to find my partner,' he tipped up her chin and his eyes moved from her soft mouth to her eyes and then back to her mouth again. Her lips quivered and he groaned and that was that, his mouth took hers in a punishing kiss that had her pinned against the back of the couch.

Harry was initially side tracked by the warmth of his lips and the passion that immediately distracted her until his answer to her question rattled around her brain. She pulled away from him and took a couple of deep breaths to steady herself. 'What did you do that doesn't matter,' her blue eyes searched his and what she saw made her feel uneasy.

Dempsey shrugged, 'I was running deep cover; got into a situation where I had to make certain connections; it was tough.' He knew Makepeace would pick up on the certain connections part, she was smart and she knew what deep cover meant to him.

'You slept with someone,' Harry's gaze held his and he didn't look away and he didn't look too guilty about it. 'And for how long did this go on?' Her heart felt like it was breaking in two but she didn't show it.

'Three months,' he sat up and picked up his glass, 'then I arrested her two brothers and the attraction waned.' It hit him then that he'd hurt Harry, she'd tried not to show it but he'd seen a flicker of pain in her eyes. The fact he'd upset her shocked him as he'd never thought of his actions having an impact on her. It had seemed like another world back in the big apple and he'd been determined to get the job done; wipe out Coltrane's evil and get even for Joey.

'I see, so it was a successful operation,' she summarised getting up and taking her glass to the sink. 'It's late shouldn't you be going.' She just wanted him to go so she could deal with this in her own way, she didn't want to lose it in front of him.

Dempsey frowned as she turned on the frost, this was ridiculous. He was undercover it was part of the job. 'It didn't mean anything Harry, it got the job done and that was all there was to it,' he ran a hand through his hair. 'I had a health check afterwards and I'm clean.'

'Good to know,' she said icily. 'I know you're the job, Dempsey. How you do that job though is entirely a matter of choice. I don't always like your choices and that's my prerogative now please leave, I'm tired and I need to sleep.'

Harry had that stubborn look on her and he didn't think she'd change her mind any time soon so he got up and walked to the door, 'I had to set things straight over there so I could come back here. Life is hard princess,' he turned. 'You're over reacting Harry, it meant nothing to me just a means to an end, I'll see you in the office tomorrow.'

'Goodnight,' she said coolly and then when he closed the door she collapsed into a chair and put her hands over her face, despair filling her soul. Typical Dempsey, get the bad guys screw the consequences, she wanted to cry but the tears wouldn't come. She took the ring from around her neck and found its box and popped it inside, it would be returned when she found the right moment because if this wasn't the trigger to end their faux engagement then she didn't know what was.


	4. Chapter 4

Dempsey attended a meeting with Spikings and the Commissioner and was offered the job heading up SI10 as the Chief Inspector was to be promoted to Superintendent.

'You would still work for Superintendent Spikings but you would be a Chief Inspector which is equivalent to your status in the NYPD, how do you feel about that?

The American nodded, he could work with Spikings they were on the same page. 'That could work,' he agreed and his eyes met Spikings and he saw the glimmer of approval from the boss. 'When would I start?'

'The application has to go through to the Promotions Board but that's a formality, the board meets at the end of the month. In the meantime, the Superintendent will introduce you to the parts of the job you're not yet familiar with. 'Welcome on board Captain Dempsey, you're work with the NYPD was exemplary, well done.'

'Thank you, sir,' Dempsey rose to his feet along with Spikings and they left the Commissioner's office. 'Can I call you Mad Gordon now,' the Yank smirked.

'You can call me sir, that would be new for you,' the Superintendent responded with his usual sarcasm. 'I'll enjoy watching you tackle the budget it will give me a great deal of satisfaction. C'mon I'll buy you a pint and you can tell me all about the last six months in New York, the unedited version.'

Dempsey gave Spikings a sharp glance and wondered why the boss wanted a blow by blow account of the cleansing operation in the NYPD, the chief was a tough cookie so he wasn't under any illusions that he'd get away without giving detail. 'Sure boss, but we do things a little differently over there so…

-oOo—

'So, you infiltrated the family of two brothers, both officers in order to get into the network of bent coppers in the division.' Spikings summarised Dempsey's NYPD undercover operation.

'Yeah, it worked a treat. None of the guys knew me and I'm good at that stuff, said I was in real estate they thought their sister had hit pay dirt. Anyway, I got the inside track and it all unravelled from there.'

'And have you told D.I. Makepeace of your undercover activities,' Spikings dark eyes showed concern as he knew that Harry had feelings for Dempsey and would probably have a less than enthusiastic response to the Yank's operational tactics.

'Yeah, told her last night.' He ran a hand round his jaw. 'Harry don't always view my way of working in a positive light; she can be critical.' His jaw squared as he anticipated the battle ahead. 'We'll work it out,' he dismissed the issue but deep inside he knew that getting Makepeace back onside was going to be tough.

'Harry would be working for you and that might be difficult,' Spikings pointed out. 'Your engagement faked or otherwise would mean she should not be under your command as you wouldn't be seen to be impartial in your treatment of the Detective Inspector.'

'Yeah, I get that.' He thumbed his nose. 'Seems hard on Harry having to move cos of me,' that would be two strikes against him. The road to future happiness looked like a long haul.

'I might have something for her but I need to talk to Makepeace about that, we'll see. Congratulations Chief Inspector,' Spikings raised his glass, 'well done.'

-oOo—

Bradshaw looked hostile as Dempsey was spending a lot of time with Spikings, 'why is he in the office again? Can't he bugger off back to New York where he belongs.'

Hargreaves looked up from her computer screen, 'I think he's back for good but you're right he is spending a lot of time with Spikings.'

Makepeace walked in and went into her office without her usual 'good morning,' to the troops and the door was firmly closed behind her.

'Goldilocks doesn't look too happy maybe the Yank had a headache,' Steve sniggered enjoying the innuendo.

Watson looked up at that and could see Joyce's negative body language and didn't chime in, he liked Hargreaves she was all right.

Harry went through her notes on the Ritz robberies, it had been difficult to find which girls had been assigned to the mark at the hotel and the subsequent robberies. None of the girls talked about it which was strange. Those particular jobs probably weren't pick up's in the hotel they would have been bookings with the escort service. So, who kept the booking system, it wouldn't be Fiorelli. He had office staff in the main club, the Black Cat, which is where she'd worked but as she'd worked nights she hadn't really seen them. Someone would have to book an escort.

She called her father and asked him to do the honours. Freddie loved intrigue so if they got the girl to the Lanesborough Hotel they could implement a sting operation and if the girl stole valuable property they would have enough on her to extract the necessary information; failing that yours truly could go back into the Black Cat and charm Fiorelli. Harry had no great appetite for that option but if push came to shove she might have to.

Spikings called the Detective Inspector into his office. 'Are you all right, Makepeace,' he asked her in a kind, avuncular fashion.

'Fine sir,' came the brief response as the Chief Inspector's benign tone raised alarm bells. 'Why did you want to see me?' Her eyebrows rose when Spikings gave her the news about his new role and Dempsey's promotion and then it sank in that James would be her superior officer.

'I see, well congratulations sir,' Harry offered weakly. Spikings deserved the promotion he was an excellent officer and very loyal to his team.

'I called you in because that leaves you in an awkward position vis a vis Captain Dempsey, your engagement etcetera.'

Makepeace didn't say anything with regards to that because even though she was handing back the ring there would be gossip about the two of them which would mean working together would be difficult.

'I need a bag carrier, someone to be my right hand and I think you would do well in that role plus it would give you exposure to those upstairs as you would represent me when I can't be available. It would be good for your career Harry and remove you from Dempsey's command.'

The blonde officer nodded, it was an excellent opportunity those roles were designated for high performers and with her networking skills she was sure she'd do well. 'Thankyou sir, I'd like to think about it but it would seem a good fit under the current circumstances.'

'It's the right move for you Harry,' Spikings assured her. 'And you can keep me from going insane when all the etiquette gets too much.' He lit a cigarette. 'Dempsey did a first-rate job over in the NYPD, they wanted to keep him on but we managed to pull a few strings to get him back over here. Better for him as there would be bound to be resentments in some quarters. Nobody likes coppers regulating other coppers but it's a necessary evil unfortunately.'

'Yes sir,' she didn't want to be drawn into a conversation about Dempsey's last operation as her emotions were still too raw.

'Operational necessities can be difficult Harry and the Yank had things to put right over there. The death of his partner had a strong impact on him, I think you know that.'

'Yes sir,' Harry wanted this conversation to end. It was too painful to think of the impact of James putting things right whilst basically cheating on her.

'All right then, if you would give me your answer by the end of the week I'd appreciate it,' he let the girl go. He knew her and he could tell the discussion was painful. He could only hope the two of them could work something out. In his experience the females of the species didn't take kindly to their male putting it about.

-oOo-

After carefully avoiding the Chief Inspector designate for a couple of weeks Harry tensed as Dempsey got into the lift beside her as they were both going up to the top floor for a meeting, Harry was representing Superintendent Spikings. The Chief Superintendent would be there which was going to be a little awkward as the blonde detective hadn't as yet returned Dempsey's ring so they weren't officially free of their engagement.

'How's it going?' Dempsey decided to break the ice as it was stupid not to talk to each other. Harry looked like she'd lost weight and she was a little paler than normal.

'Everything's fine,' she responded coolly. She didn't ask him how he was because she wanted to close down the conversation rather than extend it. They reached their floor and she was just about to get out when he pulled her back and hit a button that kept the doors of the lift closed.

'What an earth do you think you're doing,' she asked icily as he hung over her effectively pushing her back against the lift wall.

'You're getting all steamed up about something that don't matter to me other than a means to an end,' he got right into her face as she wouldn't look at him. 'Why are you doing that?'

Harry glared at him. 'It's-called-cheating,' she explained as if to the dim witted. 'That's when a person is in a relationship with one person and then has sex with someone else. I mean you can't exactly have sex without being aroused Dempsey, well a man can't anyway. So, for three months you were intimately involved with this woman and presumably got it up.'

Harry being crude was an indication of how pissed she was; Dempsey was pissed too so he got into what was annoying him. 'I wanted to get back to you as fast as possible so I took a shortcut, so what? The job got done and when I get back you'd gone missing and I find some low life draping you in diamonds; you kiss him? How'd he get so hot for you that he did that, huh?'

'The lift is about to send out an alarm,' Harry gave a frustrated sigh when Dempsey made it go back to the basement. 'Would you get out of my way, you're crowding me,' she pushed at his chest but he wasn't moving. 'Dempsey,' she warned him her eyes flashing to his.

'Nah you're gonna listen. We differ on our operational code of behaviour; you're a dame so you don't put out to keep a cover; I'm a guy and we see sex differently. What I have with you is different to what I had with the mark. Plus, you were thousands of miles away so it's not the same as if I did that here, it's a different world…

'Bullshit,' Harry responded into his face. 'As far as I'm concerned you cheated on me and I don't have any time for a man that would do that. That's not what I want. Oh, and by the way here's your engagement ring,' she fished it out of her bag. 'We're finished do you think you can get that into your testosterone challenged brain.'

His hands grabbed her arms in frustration and he went with the first thing he could think of to put the situation right. 'Marry me for real, Harry. If that's what it takes to put this right, we can do that.'

She could feel his warm breath on her temple and couldn't believe he would take this most inappropriate time to propose. He was surrounding her his body heat sending a stinging awareness through her nervous system; she needed to end this preposterous conversation before she weakened. 'No thank you, I wouldn't marry you if you were the last man on earth,' she responded in a snippy tone that always got to her ex-partner.

Makepeace could be infuriating and he was torn between kissing her or paddling her ass; he decided on the former and took her by surprise as his mouth swept down on hers. The hot furious kiss bought him nothing as she wrenched her mouth away and slapped his face.

The lift stopped at the top floor and they both pulled away and got ready to make their way to the office where the meeting was being held. Harry smoothed her skirt and ran a hand over her hair and refreshed her lipstick, Dempsey adjusted the knot of his tie. It was awkward, both protagonists trying to calm down their raging emotions and present a professional demeanour.

'After you,' he growled his voice deep with frustration as he followed her into the meeting; the engagement ring in its little box resting uncomfortably in his trouser pocket.

-oOo-


	5. Chapter 5

Dempsey, in his new role as Chief Inspector, reviewed the Ritz robberies with Makepeace, Bradshaw and Hargreaves. 'So, what have we got, as I understand it we have no evidence to arrest Fiorelli on the hotel thefts but illegal gambling we do have. Okay, so the escort side of the business; how do we check that out without sending Makepeace back in?'

Harry looked across at her ex-partner her expression hard to read. 'I've asked my father to book an escort, Freddie will be staying in the Royal Suite at the Lanesborough and will be taking a Stubbs and a Constable to make the place seem like the ancestral pile. I've told my father SI10 will pick up the bill for the room and hopefully we can get enough on the girl to get the necessary evidence. We will need a number of officers to make sure those paintings don't get into the wrong hands as the insurance company won't be pleased that they've been removed from Winfield Hall.'

'Your father owns a Hall and has an original Constable, why do you work here D.I. Makepeace you could be going to garden parties and visiting the palace,' Bradshaw asked sarcastically.

Dempsey ignored Bradshaw as he didn't like him and didn't pretend to, 'okay, so your Pop is going in as a plant; are you sure he's okay with that. I mean he's an elderly guy and er… won't the escort be expecting certain behaviours.'

Bradshaw gave a dirty laugh, 'is that your idea of a birthday treat for Papa, D.I. Makepeace?'

Harry sighed and exchanged an empathic glance with Hargreaves, 'Freddie can handle it; he gets bored if he isn't up to something or other, anyway he says he's going to be a talker and then nod off.'

'That's what he's telling you,' Bradshaw gave a loud guffaw. 'Should have sent Dempsey in to give the escort what for, no stately home or priceless paintings though so that's a bust.' D.S. Bradshaw didn't have much of a filter so the glare he got from Dempsey had him confused, everyone knew the Yank was a player, nothing wrong with that, what was his problem?

Hargreaves gave Steve a withering glance, 'Watson and I will go in as a couple in the adjoining room so if Lord Winfield shouts for help we'll be available. The room will be wired so we can hear what goes on.'

'Better tell you Dad to keep it clean,' Bradshaw sneered. 'Don't want Watson and Hargreaves to get hot under the collar with a bed in the room; I'll be covering the hotel with a bunch of wooden-tops from the Met, when you've signalled the robbery's taken place we'll make sure nobody gets in or out.'

'Okay,' Dempsey was used to the innuendo filled banter and didn't bat an eyelid over most of Bradshaw's verbal offerings however the jibe about him and the escort wasn't well received cos that was just annoying. He didn't exactly need anything that would reinforce Harry's current behaviour and he was eager to move the conversation on. 'So, we get the girl caught in the act so to speak; hotfooting out the hotel with the painting under her arm and then what; we interrogate her on what she knows or do we follow the paintings back to wherever Fiorelli stores them?'

Harry frowned, 'it would be better to know how he disposes of them and to see if we can get the others back, however that does put the Stubbs and the Constable at risk.'

'What's a Stubbs,' Steve asked as he lit up a cigarette and eyed them through the smoke. He wasn't stupid but anything to do with the Arts and Antiquities wasn't exactly his forte.

'Specialised in horses, painting of a horse,' Dempsey accepted a coffee off his secretary Vanessa and gave her a charming smile.

Bradshaw was running on automatic and said something sexist about Vanessa's tits and picked up a jammy dodger.

Harry and Joyce looked askance at Dempsey and he remembered he was supposed to act like Spikings so he admonished Steve for the comment telling him to cool it.

'Okay Harry, you're the liaison with your father and we'll do the rest,' Dempsey was eager to keep her out of it as one, she didn't work for him and two, he didn't want Fiorelli trying to acquire Makepeace, word was he was scouring the city looking for her.

'If we're letting the paintings go with the girl back to wherever, I need tag teams following them,' Steve leaned forward, 'that's a different operation from stopping anyone leaving the hotel.'

'They're your Pop's paintings go ask him,' Dempsey instructed Makepeace. 'Steve's right, we need to know what the game plan is up front.'

Harry didn't really like being ordered about by the Chief Inspector but she went into her office and had a quick conversation with her father the result being they were to follow the stolen paintings.

'Right Bradshaw organise the necessary teams to follow the girl and the paintings and let's get on with it. D.I. Makepeace I'd like a word in my office.' He asked Vanessa to get them some coffee and followed the blonde officer into his lair.

'What did you want to speak to me about sir,' Harry used the correct form of address when talking to a Chief Inspector. She didn't want a one-to-one with James so she was eager to cut to the chase.

He gave a smug smile, 'worth all the crap I went through to get this job when you call me sir, D.I. Makepeace.' It was fortunate they still worked in the same division, he knew Harry'd avoid him if she could.

'I'm glad you think so,' Harry obviously didn't share his view on the 'crap' he'd gone through and she sat down and looked at him expectantly not willing to prolong the conversation.

Dempsey ran his gaze over his ex-partner appreciatively she was wearing the pink suit and a darker top underneath, he liked the skirt it clung to her ass in a way that was pure temptation. She wasn't in the business of tempting him though so he'd better get on with it. He knew she'd be less than enthusiastic about what he was about to propose. 'Fiorelli's trying to find you apparently, he's lovesick, know how he feels, kind of feeling it myself.'

'I'll watch my back then,' she responded her blue gaze hard on his. 'Anything else,' she said a quick thank you to Vanessa as she brought in the coffee as requested.

Well here goes nothing he thought as he leant forward in his seat. 'Yeah there's something else, I'm taking you into protective custody until we get Fiorelli, that's what else.' He took a slug of the coffee and monitored her expression.

'No,' Harry responded in a determined tone. There was no way she wanted Dempsey monitoring her twenty-four by seven she was having a hard-enough time keeping it together as it was.

'It's not negotiable Harry, you're gonna be nestled under my wing for the duration, this ain't about you and me Makepeace, it's my job. I have enough intel from our contacts to know there's a lot of dough currently being thrown around to find Sharon Jackson. So you,' he pointed at her, 'are under SI10 protection. Also, if they do a background search on your Pop they may come up with a few snaps of his daughter so using your father has its risks.'

'I see.' She got up and studied the toe of her shoe. 'Well perhaps it would be better to call it off then; I don't want my father threatened just because some man is lusting after me.' Her blue eyes met his and there was no doubt her words were double edged and aimed at him as well as Fiorelli.

'Take care Harry and let's not make this personal,' his dark eyes warned her off. 'In my professional opinion, you need protection princess, so let's play nice. I'll take you to the safe house later, don't go back to your place for clothes, I got it covered.'

-oOo—

Fry entered the house in Notting Hill and placed the aromatic take-away meal on the table and smiled happily at Harry as she sat reading a magazine. 'I always feel it's a bit like playing house with your friends,' he got out the plates and knives and forks. 'This is a nice place.'

'Yes, it's rather up market, the Chief Inspector must be splashing out on his budget,' Makepeace responded dryly.

'Only the best for you princess,' Dempsey entered the lounge after checking all the doors and windows. 'Your Pop's travelling down to London today but has the escort booked for tomorrow so we shouldn't be here for too long. Come on eat up, you look like you've lost a few pounds,' his dark gaze flickered over her slim form.

'I've been de-toxifying,' she offered in an even tone and a quick glance back at him. She went for a king prawn at the same time as him and he got it and then put it tantalisingly in front of her mouth. 'You have it,' she said pleasantly.

'Where's the fun in that,' he waggled it in front of her face and she turned away so he gave up on trying to feed her but he knew she liked it when he did.

Fry went out to get some drinks for them all and Dempsey took the opportunity to wipe a piece of imaginary rice from the corner of her mouth.

'Stop it,' Harry snapped at him. He was just trying to flirt with her and it was out of order. She'd told him they were finished.

'Stop what, you had food on your face,' he shrugged amiably and smiled warmly at her. 'I miss eating with you, we used to do a lot of it. Nobody to criticise my food choices.'

'Well you've had female company reasonably recently maybe she approved of your food choices until you arrested her brothers. Poor woman she must have felt terribly betrayed.' In other words, I feel betrayed thought Harry.

'She wasn't a particularly nice person her name was Dorothea, she was very manipulative and incredibly selfish but she did love her brothers, close family.' His gaze caught hers. 'It wasn't a love affair on my side it was work. C'mon Harry I was cleaning up Coltrane's mess so other young cops didn't get caught up in it like Joey. I get it you don't like it but it was necessary.'

'Oh, so if I did it with Fiorelli you'd be fine,' she challenged him. She saw his eyes darken. 'No, you wouldn't be fine with it would you so there you go? And how would you feel about me if I had done that?' It was amazing he obviously thought she was being irrational.

'It's different for girls, I know you're gonna call me a chauvinist and maybe I am but…

'There's no but about it,' Harry fired up. 'I don't think your prostituting yourself for the sake of the job is something I can accept.'

'Now hang on a minute, there was no money involved so I wasn't prostituting myself I was playing a role,' he fired back feeling outraged she saw it like that. 'Guys put it around no-one thinks badly of them but if dames do that they get a name. It may not be fair but that's the way it is.'

'Would you have had sex with another man for the sake of the job,' Harry asked him her gaze icy as she saw him struggle with the meaning behind the question.

'No I wouldn't,' he growled not exactly following where she was going with that but knowing instinctively it wouldn't be good for him.

'Oh, so you're quite happy to have sex as part of the job as long as it's a sexual act you prefer,' she eyed him critically. 'In other words, you found it acceptable to have sex with Dorothea and to use your body to get what you wanted which was an introduction to her brothers.'

'Look I've had a lot of women, they like me. It ain't always serious, sex sometimes is just that, sex though I guess you'd have to make hard work of it.'

'And what's that supposed to mean?' Harry enquired furiously. 'I'm hard work is that what you're saying. I'm not easy, you'd prefer it if I was easy.'

Fry was wondering if he should go back in because the two of them were going at it hammer and tong. It seemed to be bit of a domestic but you never knew with them. They could argue about anything.

'Harry, you're being ridiculous. You don't agree with what I did I get that, what are you jealous? You got no reason, I swear on my mother's life… His dark eyes searched hers. 'Okay, I'm sorry you're upset but if I had the time again I don't think I would change it. I felt like I owed it to Joey; Joey as he was when we were young cadets before Coltrane and the booze got him. And if I had to do it to keep you safe I would, you know that.'

'Yes, I know that but I feel the way I feel so it's hopeless,' she ran her hands over her face in distress and felt James move and take her in his arms. He stroked her hair and murmured soft calming words to her until she'd got herself back under control. It was stupid, the person who had hurt her the most was the only one who could give her comfort. 'I'm okay,' she took a deep breath and her blue eyes met his, the hurt clearly showing.

'You're crucifying me here Harry,' his pain was there in his eyes. 'We're on the frontline; protecting people and sometimes you do what you have to do. We've got to get past this princess…

They both heard Fry clearing his throat and making enough noise to warn them he was about to come in. 'Drinks,' he said brightly feeling really awkward.

'Thanks, I'm very thirsty,' Harry smiled at him in a friendly way whilst wondering how much he'd heard.

Fry had heard them arguing but not the detail particularly but it sounded like Dempsey had done something to upset Makepeace and Jim was sorry for it but exasperated with her at the same time.

-oOo-

The next evening Lord Winfield's escort knocked on the door of the Royal Suite at the Lanesborough Hotel. Penelope was a very pretty, young girl and was obviously an upper class, young lady like his daughter Harriet. He couldn't think her parents would be pleased at what she was up to so he decided to talk to her about it after offering her a glass of wine.

Penelope was soon in tears with a hard luck story that would have wrung the hardest heart. 'I can't get out of this situation, I wish I could,' she told him as he patted her on the back.

'There's always a way my girl, we just have to help you find it. Here's my card; phone me at any time. Now I'm going for a little nap, you don't have to worry about the transaction side of this. I'm finding myself quite tired and not up to that sort of thing at my age. It's been very nice to talk to you, Penelope.'

Watson and Hargreaves were staring at each other aghast. Lord Winfield reforming the young escort had not been in the game plan. They were hoping she'd still follow through with her original intention but Penelope was a nice girl at heart and couldn't rob a man that reminded her of her grandfather so she left in a distressed state.

Dempsey took the news stoically. 'What is it with you Winfields' are you on some personal crusade to make my life difficult,' he stood the operation down. 'Pop's just had a heart to heart with the escort who was so conscience stricken she left the paintings behind. Have you any idea how much that has just cost the British tax payer?' Budgets were a bit of a sore point for the Chief Inspector as he now had to account for everything and he hated the paperwork.

'Well Freddie is very decent and she probably reminded him of me or similar. Oh dear, well perhaps he's saved a soul tonight,' she offered trying to appease.

'Saving souls is for the Salvation Army, we're a serious crime team,' Dempsey muttered irritably and then got news on the RT that Bradshaw was following the girl back to wherever after the operation had, as the Sergeant put it, gone 'tits up'.

'Keep a low profile, don't intercept,' Dempsey picked up his jacket. 'Fry stay here with Makepeace and I'll go see if we can recover the situation.' He looked at Harry his dark eyes determined and forceful, 'stay put or I ain't answerable, you got that.'

'Yes, thank you Chief Inspector,' she answered coolly. She was very glad she didn't have to work for Dempsey because he was very, very bossy in fact he made Spikings look like a pussy cat. It irritated her a bit that her hormones danced around when he'd told her to 'stay put,' in that fashion, it was ridiculous; when had she become so bloody weak.

'And you,' Dempsey pointed at Fry, 'are to intervene if the Detective Inspector decides she wants to leave. You don't let her, you're acting with my authority, you got that!'

Fry looked extremely dropped on, she was his senior officer and he had a bit of a thing for her. What on earth would he do to stop her? The thought of man handling Makepeace terrified him and made him go weak at the knees at the same time.

'That's not fair Dempsey,' Makepeace protested, I mean what would Fry supposedly do if she decided to leave. It was the perfect tactic because James knew she wouldn't put the young officer in that position.

The American came up to her and smiled, smugly. 'I'm keeping you alive angel, that's what's fair. Later,' he strode out confident that he'd checkmated Harry because of her wonderful British integrity. He was glad he wasn't blessed with that kind of burden.


	6. Chapter 6

Some days later Harry met her father for afternoon tea at the Ritz and saw he was looking rather sheepish. 'I'm sorry old girl, I just wanted to help that poor, young woman. I thought about it afterwards and wondered what had become of her because her associates wouldn't be very pleased with her would they?' Freddie looked very troubled about that.

Harry sighed heavily. 'It would have been better if you'd stayed en-piste Freddie, fortunately Bradshaw followed Penelope and stopped her getting a savage beating. And then Sergeant Hargreaves and Watson were just about to pack up their surveillance when Fiorelli's back up team turned up at the hotel to steal the paintings whilst you were enjoying a nightcap in the bar.'

'Sounds like a French farce,' Freddie commented with a twinkle in his eye. 'The worst thing is, I didn't notice the paintings had hopped it when I got back to the room. I think that when they've been with you for all those years they become part of the wallpaper so to speak.'

Lord Winfield's daughter looked at her father knowingly, 'Freddie, how long were you in the bar?' Her bright blue eyes so like her mother's interrogated him.

'Well a couple of chums were staying at the Lanesborough and we got talking and one thing led to another….

'Yes, well while you were enjoying yourself with your chums, Hargreaves and Watson followed the paintings, Dempsey got a warrant and the location was searched and the loot from the so-called Ritz Robberies was found. And the young lady, Penelope is now back in the bosom of her family and is going to be a key witness for the prosecution.'

'So, you got your man,' Freddie beamed at her, 'splendid. I'm glad that young lady found her way. I hope they're not going to plaster her name all over the newspapers; she deserves a second chance.' The older man's blue eyes were tranquil as they looked at his daughter, 'I think everyone does, don't you Harry.'

A deep sigh followed that mild advice from her father. Harry's vulnerable glance was rewarded by her father taking her hands in his. 'Darling, I want you to be happy. And I have seen you come to life over recent years and that's down to that insufferable Yank,' his eyes twinkled again. 'James came to see me and explained what happened and I can see why you were upset.'

'You can,' she looked surprised and then exasperated. 'Dempsey can't. He thinks I'm being over sensitive and doesn't understand why I think the way I do. He sees sex as an appetite, it's like a hamburger for him. I feel like I'm just a hamburger with a special sauce.' She laughed at the ridiculous metaphor as did her father.

'Well maybe he sees what he has with you as something that's different from the run of the mill hamburger. Men do see things differently on that front, darling. We're not a very nice lot really.'

The cake stand appeared with lots of delicious mouth-watering confections and Freddie chose a selection of things he knew Harry liked.

'Now my darling I absolutely insist, you're looking very peaky and it won't do you any harm to eat one or two of these,' his warm gaze bathed her in affection and he smiled when she gave in.

As Harry was tucking into a delicious confection with pink and white icing Freddie looked over and smiled, 'I'll leave you to the rest and perhaps James can help you finish them off.

Harry's head reared up as if it had been attached to a string. 'Freddie,' she warned him but it was too late he was off and James was sitting down looking very smart in a linen jacket, shirt and tie and chino's. Harry's Pop had briefed him on the dress code.

'Am I to understand my father invited you here?' Harry said frostily her manner dripping with icy disdain. She didn't realise she had pink icing on the tip of her nose which spoilt the effect somewhat.

'The ice don't work when you've got frosting on your face,' Dempsey batted back at her with a mock smile as he took one of the most calorific confections.

Harry retrieved her handbag mirror and saw how ridiculous she looked with pink icing on her nose and picked up her napkin and removed it. 'I think it very low behaviour to try and get to me through Freddie.'

'Well he all but screwed the case so he owed me,' Dempsey responded without shame, 'just calling in the markers, honey.'

'I can see your instinct for choosing the most calorific food hasn't deserted you.' She observed waspishly, she felt very unsettled and that wasn't like her in fact Dempsey was one of the few people that could continually spin her off balance although she tried very hard not to let him.

'I'm saving you from them,' James responded in an even tone not wanting to escalate the tension. 'I'd like to be friends again Harry, even if you can't see your way to being my girl. I miss you,' he turned and ordered coffee from the hovering waiter.

'We'll see,' she answered unwilling to commit herself as she was very hurt about his trans-Atlantic dalliance and even if he saw sex as just sex, she didn't. Harry saw sex as the ultimate intimacy with someone you…. She called a halt to that train of thought.

'Marriage is still on the cards if you want that,' he growled as he helped himself to another cake. 'I meant it when I said that even if it was kind of heat of the moment.'

'And if we got married and you went on another operation are you saying you would still put sex on the table,' after she'd said that Harry regretted it as Dempsey couldn't control the grin. 'Don't bother answering that,' she added disdainfully.

'No, I wouldn't,' he got back to the substance of the issue. 'Course I wouldn't. I don't want to live in perma-frost for the rest of my natural. I think you've made it crystal clear how you feel about that.'

Harry picked up another cake one of the less gooey ones. 'Well I may consider trying the friendship thing,' she could see he hated that idea. 'Let's start there.'

'Fine,' he thanked the waiter for the coffee and picked up another calorific number as much for something to do as he hated emotional conversations and he didn't need the sugar hit, 'you miss me,' he asked her looking a bit awkward.

Harry sipped her tea to give herself a moment before deciding on her answer. The awkwardness always disarmed her; if he'd been all confidence and charm she'd have shut him down in a heartbeat. 'A bit,' she answered simply.

She saw the beginning of a smile and answered with one of her own, their eyes meeting and their gaze holding for an inappropriate amount of time.

'Good,' was all he said as the waiter poured Harry more tea.

-oOo-

Back in the office it was business as usual. Harry looked up as Fry came sheepishly into her office empty handed, no floppy disk, no report, nothing. 'Chief Inspector Dempsey's budget review,' she reminded him in a determined tone.

The young officer mused that being between a rock and a hard place must be very comfortable compared to being the go between for the Queen of the Ice Kingdom and the boisterous, belligerent, export from Brooklyn, U.S. of A. 'The Chief Inspector's budget review has been delayed due to extenuating circumstances…

'Oh yes, has Vanessa broken both wrists and is no longer able to type, I'll send down Muriel to assist,' Harry responded with feigned patience.

'Not exactly, Dempsey has a heavy workload and…

'And if he doesn't get his revised budget requirement to me this afternoon he won't have any funding to support said heavy workload. Dismissed Fry, I don't want any further excuses next time you appear you will have those figures.'

Fry went to the canteen to get a coffee and sat down looking extremely dejected. He really did try his best; he really did but at times he felt he had the crappiest job in crappy land.

Inspector Jarvis sat down and folded his arms and regarded the younger man sympathetically. He decided to intervene as the lad looked beleaguered. 'Fry, the secret is to make them talk to each other.' He gave a few kind words of advice and left the D.C. to think about his future actions.

Dempsey came out of his office looking for Watson and Hargreaves when he was halted by Fry, 'phone,' he handed it to the Chief Inspector, 'budget,' he offered helpfully.

The Yank's jaw set as he got Makepeace direct. 'Hi Harry, how's it going?' Dempsey's mouth became a grim line as he was told exactly how Makepeace was doing and exactly how he'd be doing if he didn't give her his bloody budget. Since he was on probation with her he nodded his head in time with the ear bending from the more junior officer and then said in a disarming tone, 'I hear you Harry, you couldn't see your way to coming down here and giving me a hand… He held the phone away from his ear as his ex-partner gave him a blistering earful and then politely said, unfortunately she couldn't.

'Nice language the D.I.'s picked up from upstairs,' he looked round for Joyce and his gaze pinned her. 'Hargreaves in my office and you Fry,' they both duly followed having a feeling that they were in for a late night. 'Job for you both; as you guys are the only ones in the department that can add two and two you get to do my budget. 'This is what I'm thinking…

Hargreaves printed out the budget at three in the morning and by that time she didn't care whether they were putting in an order for five thousand care bears or fifty automatic weapons. 'I think we may be a bit low on pool cars but then we don't lose as many as we did when the Chief Inspector was on field work.'

'I heard that,' Dempsey came in with a boxed pizza and took the report off Hargreaves. 'Have some,' he indicated the pizza box, 'you're entitled.'

'I'm entitled to more than a pizza,' Joyce responded sarcastically. 'Spikings has been down here, Makepeace has gone home, so the softly, softly approach disappeared at midnight. I'd forgotten how acerbic the Superintendent can be and I'd avoid him if I were you.'

'I always avoid him,' Dempsey's gaze ran over the budget and he nodded. 'Nice work,' he made a couple of alterations and handed it back ignoring the ire in the Sergeant's gaze and then grinned as she gave it to Fry to make the amendments.

Fry did the necessary adjustments and then gave an exclamation of horror. 'I've deleted it, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!'

Dempsey and Hargreaves surged forward as one, horrified that they might have to repeat the work and then Spikings burst through the door. 'Where is that bloody budget.'

'Just printing it off sir,' Fry responded pleasantly and smiled at his furious colleagues, after all every dog has its day, 'for a moment I thought we'd had a glitch with the word processor but it's fine.'

His innocent air didn't fool either Hargreaves or Dempsey but they let it go, it had been a long night and Fry being the junior officer had had to do a lot of the heavy lifting. In fact, they both reluctantly had to admit as far as a 'gotcha' went it was a good one.


	7. Chapter 7

Dempsey walked out of the Home Office with Spikings and Makepeace as they'd been asked to go through all the cases where an airport had been involved.

'I mean planes have a fatal attraction for the criminal fraternity,' Dempsey grumbled. 'And why do they always have to say something about my being an American as if that explains anything.'

'It usually does,' Makepeace piped up. 'We are an elite squad and that's why we're allowed to bear arms because we deal with the worse kind of villains. Traffic cops carry guns in the U.S.A., and that's why they always make a point about your being an American.'

'Well they could say thank you for keeping their country safe,' he took out a cigar and smiled inside when Harry lit it for him with the little lighter she kept just for that purpose.

The Superintendent noticed the lighter work too. Had his mainly sensible officer decided to be a handmaiden to his effective but annoying American next in command? The act had a certain element of intimacy even to a person of a non-romantic nature and the Yank looked pretty smug when Harry obliged. The senior officer was in a bad mood as he hated the sessions at the Home Office where they had to explain their operational decisions. None of those idiots would last five minutes on the front line. 'And as for thanks you got the promotion didn't you,' Spikings grated irascibly.

'Yes, considering you're a Yank that was amazing,' Harry chimed in tongue in cheek. 'Well,' she defended her statement, 'how many American Chief Inspectors are there on the force?'

Dempsey's jaw squared and he was just about to say something uncomplimentary about the British when one of the suits ran out and accosted them. The man was panting and asked them to go back into the office they'd just left.

The trio followed reluctantly as the general mood was that they'd had enough red tape for one day and wondered what additional misdemeanour they had unintentionally committed.

Parker, the Home Secretary, was looking agitated which never boded well and he shooed his minions out of the office. 'A delicate situation has arisen,' he paused looking very reluctant to continue. 'The Prime Minister's son has been accused, by certain quarters, of behaving inappropriately in a business context. The information is a total fabrication according to the P.M. and we need your division to prove that.'

'Isn't this more in line with Fraud's remit,' Spikings didn't like the sound of this case, it had a no-win feeling about it.

'There is a foreign connection to the business transactions,' Parker pointed out. 'And the accusers are people who are bordering on the illegal, legal.'

'Sounds like MI6 then,' the Superintendent responded it wasn't the first time he'd had to act as a gateway service to other divisions. One negative thing about being an effective unit meant that more work came your way especially when other divisions had failed to deliver.

'I think this calls for your specialist skills as the accusers involved are nasty pieces of work.' Parker went onto brief them as to the nature of the individuals whom were all known to SI10 as persons of interest. In fact, they had cases open on the names mentioned.

'Flying high naming the Prime Minister's son,' Dempsey interrupted. 'Why would they do that? I mean most of these guys like to keep a low profile and use their legal teams to keep them out of the slammer. Don't make any sense,' he dwelt on the information he had collected on Mason and Steers over the years.

Spikings whole heartedly agreed with that and asked for all the information the Home Secretary had and suggested that he reviewed the case before accepting it as an SI10 operation.

'I'm counting on you Spikings,' Parker blustered as he trusted the senior officer where some of his colleagues were in his opinion a dull lot who seemed to have got to senior positions by virtue of sticking to the job rather than any talent for it.

'I'm flattered by your confidence sir,' Spikings responded as he made to leave with the files carried out by D.I. Makepeace as after all she was his bag carrier.

Harry was struggling under the weight of them and Dempsey took them off her before she dropped them and received a grateful look as a reward.

'Lot of reading to catch up on,' the American drawled. 'I wonder which division put these together, when we find that out we'll know who screwed up.'

'My thoughts exactly,' Spikings muttered. 'We'll take the files back to the office and then go to the pub for a well-earned drink before we start on that lot. Better make sure they're under lock and key first.'

'Wouldn't do to leave them in the bar Gordon,' Dempsey smirked at Spikings dart of a warning glance. 'Wouldn't want the P.M. to turn the spotlight on SI10.'

'Exactly why I'd like to back heel this case back to the incompetents that collated said information,' Spikings bristled. 'This has got a hazard warning all over it and I don't have to read any of it to know that.'

Harry followed the two men over to the pub but only when she'd had a quick look at the files as she was curious. She sat down and picked up the drink Dempsey had provided for her and felt a warm glow that he'd remembered her latest tipple which was a white wine spritzer. 'Thanks,' she said politely. 'You were right sir, Fraud and spooks,' she addressed the Superintendent.

'Aw now you've gone and spoiled it,' Dempsey responded with mock disappointment, typical Harry always had to play the girl scout. 'We were working through the runners and riders.'

'Couldn't resist it,' Harry responded brightly. 'Fraud must have picked it up, realised it was a hot potato and tossed it over to MI6 sharpish.'

'And the Foreign Office decided it was career limiting and pushed it back to the Home Office,' Spikings added grimly.

'You don't suppose that Junior…. Dempsey raised the issue they'd all been worried about; what if they were left with the bad news for the P.M. Without viewing the evidence that had to be seen to be as a possibility. And an even greater probability when the files had hot footed it their way.

'D.I. Makepeace can review the information on my behalf and then I'll make a decision on her analysis you don't need to get involved until I make the request,' Spiking held Dempsey's gaze. 'We'll play this one carefully and by the book, you understand me.'

'Sure boss, I got a workload that'd kill an elephant,' he smiled at Harry who looked somewhat dropped on, 'you're it, princess.'

'I appear to be,' she agreed coolly as she guessed this operation wasn't going to hit SI10 and was possibly destined to shoot through so to speak.

-oOo—

'So, what you got,' Dempsey sat on Makepeace's desk as he devoured an egg and bacon roll. 'What?' He asked as she gave him a disdainful look. 'Well I'd eat healthy if the little woman was around at breakfast but since you ain't this is what the canteen has to offer.'

'Find another little woman then,' Harry quipped as she picked up her Earl Grey tea and sipped it in a genteel fashion highlighting the difference between the two of them.

'Nah, I'm stuck on you princess, come to dinner with me tonight in fact I'll cook, you can just sit there and look pretty,' his eyes danced and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth knowing she'd see that for what it was.

'How tempting,' she gave him a mock smile. 'You must have forgotten that I've sampled your cuisine and you seem to think that a chef does his best work in the bedroom.'

'Man cannot live on bread alone not this guy anyway,' his warm gaze flirted with her outrageously. 'Where's the boss, I ain't heard his dulcet tones this morning so I'm guessing he's out.'

'Dentist,' Harry responded. 'Wisdom tooth extraction so we may not hear said tones for a couple of days. He's lobbed the file on Junior back to the Foreign Office but I'm intrigued as to why Mason and Steers would involve the P.M.s son, it's not like them they usually stay well under the radar.'

'It would be sweet to stick something on those guys; what's your theory? I know you, you've got that look… He got off the desk and stretched revealing the warm, tanned skin of his stomach for the Detective Inspector's enjoyment.

'Put it away Dempsey, I've just had my breakfast,' Harry's colour had heightened and she opened a file blindly to avoid the rush of awareness that threatened to upset her usual equilibrium.

Her ex-partner came around behind her and bent down so his mouth was close to her ear, 'I remember you kissing me there, driving me crazy… C'mon Harry, have dinner with me.' His voice was warm and golden and he knew that when he spoke to her in that tone she tended to melt like a snow cone in the hot sun.

'If I agreed to that it would have to be a restaurant of my choice,' Makepeace turned her head slightly towards him and inhaled his cologne and that James scent she craved, 'and you would have to promise not to pollute my office for the rest of the day.'

'You got it. But when you're ready, pay me a visit and tell me your theory on Mason and Steers and I'll check it out, cos you ain't got the manpower and I have.' Dempsey had to admit he enjoyed pulling rank over Makepeace every now and then.

He was about to leave when Spikings appeared in the doorway with a swollen jaw and hell written all over his face. 'Mornin boss,' Dempsey gave Harry a look that said, 'wouldn't like to be you,' and shoved off downstairs.

-oOo—

'Nightmare,' Harry sat down in the French Bistro she'd suggested. 'I mean it's ridiculous; Spikings should be at home resting; he can hardly speak so he's just pointing at things and I'm expected to be a clairvoyant.'

'Yeah but if you can't read the boss who can?' Dempsey placated her as he really didn't want to talk about Mad Gordon for the rest of the evening.

'I made a decent stab at most of it,' she conceded. 'Anyway, Mason and Steers….

'This is a date Harry it ain't work,' Dempsey pointed out as the waiter poured her some wine. 'I want to talk about you and me and where we're at.'

'We're at a restaurant sharing a meal,' Harry responded her blue eyes challenging him as she wasn't about to resume the relationship they'd had before he went to America without a lot more thought. She'd agreed to resuming their friendship and that was all. 'And no, I'm not about to fall into bed with you.'

'Bit inappropriate in a restaurant,' Dempsey remarked a smile tugging at his mouth. 'And when do you think you might resume normal relations. I mean you've made your point and I've agreed not to gift yours truly to any undercover operation and be true unto you only, what's next?'

'I don't know; I haven't got that far.' Makepeace picked up a piece of bread and dipped it in oil and balsamic vinegar, 'it's a trust issue and you broke my trust….

'Now wait a minute, I never lied to you,' Dempsey pointed out feeling a sense of injustice. He knew Harry was pissed at him about the way he'd conducted business in the States but he'd never deceived her.

'In all those phone calls, you never said anything about Dorothea,' Makepeace pointed out. 'In fact, you hardly discussed the operation at all.'

'I was dealing with the past and it was tough and you were the future and I wanted to keep the two things separate,' Dempsey pointed out feeling slightly exasperated. 'You were apart from that; it was like having an oasis after being roasted in the desert sun.'

'How poetic,' Harry sipped her wine. She knew he'd been up to his neck in it over there and that even phoning her had been a risk but she still found it hard to deal with the other woman issue. 'My ex-husband cheated on me and I vowed to myself that I wouldn't let it become a habit.'

'Harry, I didn't cheat on you. Not in my mind, not even a little bit. I was doing my job that's all it was and if I'd thought you'd think that I would've maybe reconsidered. I just got into role, you know me…' It honestly hadn't occurred to him that he was effectively cheating on her because he hadn't seen Dorothea as anything but a means to an end.

'Yes, I do know you and I think I'd made it very clear how I felt when you were charming Mara Giardino… Harry remembered her words very clearly, 'you didn't have to have a bloody love affair!'

'You suggested that, you suggested that I got close enough to find out what she knew. What the hell do you think that means in guy speak? And anyway, I didn't,' he responded aggrieved. 'Look Harry, you've got to accept that I had unfinished business in the States. I had to get past that to move on.' He tugged his hair in a characteristic fashion when he was troubled and didn't know what to say. 'I love you, Harry. Nothing compares to that.' He looked away after delivering the words he'd anguished over.

'You love me,' she repeated the words. 'You've never said that before,' her blue eyes took in his beleaguered expression and she knew how hard that had been for him. James didn't talk about emotion, he kept things inside and was closed off to some extent; the job could do that to you. It disarmed her and her expression softened.

'Yeah well, I find it difficult discussing that stuff,' his eyes met hers and then looked away. 'I guessed you'd know that anyway, damn nearly quit the job over you.' He waved the hovering waiter away as they were having a moment.

'How could I know? I mean I knew you liked me and well… I knew you were attracted to me but I thought you were dating me to find out if things ran deeper than that.' Harry's blue eyes searched his expression he looked very uncomfortable and she didn't doubt for one moment that he was feeling awkward and emotionally exposed.

Dempsey couldn't believe Harry hadn't picked up on how he felt about her, I mean most of the guys thought he was nuts about her so how come she didn't see it. 'We were dating because I was crazy about you; I just didn't know if two people who are so different could make it work.' He picked up the menu feeling like he'd said enough for one evening. 'We'd better order the waiter's looking anxious.'

Harry looked at her menu and a small smile played around her mouth, inside she felt a warm surge of emotion. He loved her, Dempsey loved her. After sampling a good part of the British female population, he actually loved her. He was in his late thirties so he would have had his fair share of relationships as the ladies seemed to be charmed by his attention. She had to admit they were the odd couple but in some ways, they were similar, both high achievers in their own way, both attractive and both very private about their feelings. She ordered automatically and then turned back to James.

'It's going to take time,' she said softly her blue eyes troubled as they met his and she tried to explain the way she felt. 'I feel as if I've retreated back to my safe place which means it's hard for me to respond in kind. I feel shut in and I'm struggling to come back out.'

He nodded acknowledging that. 'I'm sorry I did that to you, Harry. I guess I'll have to coax you back out of there,' his dark eyes were concerned as he looked at her. 'All I ever wanted was to keep you safe princess, if you need to stay in the safe place for a while I'm cool with that. I won't pressure you… He saw her look of disbelief and laughed in a self-deprecating fashion. 'Yeah well, I'll try not to.'

'Hmm we'll see,' she rested her chin on her linked fingers. 'You can come back to mine for a nightcap if you like,' she saw the light switch on and shook her head. 'A drink James and that's all.'

'Can't blame a guy for trying,' he growled as their starters arrived. His dark gaze ran over her as she thanked the waiter. She was worth waiting for and he was mad at himself for hurting her. He should have thought about how she'd feel. It just hadn't occurred to him he'd been so focussed on putting things right for Joey.

'I'm sorry,' he said after the waiter left. 'I'm sorry for putting you through this,' the gruff words were heart felt.

'Oh, you know me I'll bounce back,' Harry responded but there was a certain vulnerability in the way she said it and his hand covered hers to comfort her.

'Yeah, I know you.' Their eyes met and held for a long moment in time until Harry looked away and freed her hand to eat her starter.

'Food's great,' he offered to get them back to dry land.

'Very good, this place has an excellent reputation,' Harry was relieved to move off the emotional stuff and continued with idle chatter for the rest of the meal but couldn't help but feel a warm glow of satisfaction. James had said he loved her and that would need some thinking about.

-oOo—


	8. Chapter 8

Dempsey was feeling exposed, he'd told Harry he loved her and she hadn't said it back, they'd had a nice meal and a nightcap at her place but then she'd said she was tired and he'd taken the hint and left. He'd hurt her; he got that but he wanted to be with her and if she loved him she'd want to be with him too, wouldn't she?

Chas came into his office and handed him a requisition for an undercover operation Steve Bradshaw was undertaking and the American's eyebrows rose. 'What, he's going into this as some kind of high roller? Not sure he fits the part; can't he go work in the cloakroom or something?' He signed off the request with an ill humour that befitted his current mood.

'Bradshaw's started to add value, I want to show confidence in him, don't worry I'll keep an eye on things and make sure it doesn't get out of hand.' Chas could read Dempsey pretty well, 'coffee,' he suggested.

The American nodded and followed his colleague and friend down to the canteen and accepted the black coffee with a nod of thanks. 'Busy in here this morning,' he looked around the crowded cafeteria, it was Monday morning so that was probably it.

'A whole week of work in front of people, a visit to the canteen cheers them up,' Chas remarked dourly. 'How's it going?' He took a mouthful of coffee and waited patiently, if Jim wanted to talk he would.

'More work piling up,' Dempsey responded although the workload didn't bother him; he was good at prioritizing stuff as he went with his nose and he was rarely wrong. 'Need to recruit more officers and don't want to lower the bar for entry so that's a challenge.'

'Department's got a good reputation we don't want to screw that up,' Chas agreed although he knew that wasn't what was biting at Jim. 'It might be better to select possible candidates and make an approach…

'Yeah, but that's called poaching and believe me I'm unpopular enough as a Yank without actually earning the carpet-bagging reputation. Harry'd say I should take in more female officers but between you and me I'm glad she's out of the firing line up there in her little office and putting Hargreaves into the field brings me out in a cold sweat specially with Watson.'

'Harry and Joyce are good coppers,' the Glaswegian nodded and waited patiently as he guessed Dempsey was troubled about something relating to his former partner.

Dempsey frowned. 'I screwed up with Makepeace,' he looked at Chas his gaze heavy with regret. 'Got so tied up with the NYPD cleanup and the cover that I blew it and now we're… Guess I don't really know where I am with her… He looked away his demeanour showed his pain and frustration with the situation.

'Harry's very fair,' Chas responded wondering how big the screw-up was…

'She ain't being unfair,' Dempsey defended Harry and ran a hand through his hair in an exasperated fashion. 'I infiltrated the dirty cops by an association with a couple of brothers, both cops. The brothers had a sister and I got to them through her. Didn't think about it just went with the cover; did what had to be done. Successful operation.'

Jarvis got the gist as he knew Jim of old and he was a big success with the ladies. 'I see, so you're in the doghouse,' he saw Dempsey's wry expression and smiled. 'I imagine it's not your first visit,' a glimmer of a smile appeared.

'Nope, I spend more time there than somewhere more pleasant,' the American agreed in a resigned tone. 'Just got to be patient I guess and hope she'll come round. I could kick myself but then why bother I'm black and blue already.'

'When I'm in the doghouse I offer to do something with the missus that she knows I hate; like shopping or spending a weekend with her mother, seems to work.' He shrugged and got up. 'Better get back to it.'

Dempsey followed thinking about what Chas had said and gloomily reviewing a number of things he hated doing and guessed he'd better put a list together.

-oOo—

Harry hadn't realised that she'd featured in a heart to heart between Chas and James as she took the staircase down to SI10 to have a word with the Chief Inspector. As usual all heads turned as she entered the office and as Harry looked very attractive in her figure hugging, navy blue, jumpsuit the appraisals were extremely masculine and lingered.

She ignored it and entered the lair of her ex-partner as he was giving someone an ear-bashing on the phone, he waved her into a seat and continued to give the unfortunate on the other end of the phone his views in clear and brutal terms. Spikings bark was always worse than his bite but with Dempsey the two were equally painful.

The American slammed the phone down and tilted his head to one side and said in a genial tone, 'and how can I assist you Detective Inspector Makepeace,' he dropped the aggression as easily as he would pick it up again if the situation demanded it. His dark gaze ran over his ex-partner appreciatively and he felt the usual stirrings of need which had been a familiar companion over the years.

Harry was used to Dempsey's explosive temper so it was water of a duck's back to her and she pushed a file at him. 'Mason and Steers, Ponzi scheme supported or aided and abetted by having the P.M.'s son attached as one of the early investors. High dividends paid out to early investors in order to attract more.'

'That's your theory,' he enquired politely. 'Can we throw the book at them?' He groaned as she shook her head and gave a sweet smile, he should be used to what that smile did to him but it never grew old.

'Not yet,' Harry leaned forward her features animated. 'Because of shall we say Junior's name being attached there is a great deal of interest; lots of new investors and they can pay out anyone who wants to realise their profits. Not many investors are doing that because of the respectability Junior has given to the investment. In fact, many are being offered new deals with higher pay-outs if they invest more.'

'So, it's all legal and above board which sounds like Mason and Steers,' the American pondered on the subject. 'What about if there's a crisis of confidence like Junior backing off the investment kind of publicly, I'm guessing this deal is being run on one of the foreign exchanges hence the overseas angle?'

Harry gave a beautiful pout as she was somewhat put out by how quickly he'd picked up on her analysis, 'yes, it is. And as Mason and Steers are Persons of Interest the Foreign Office and Fraud got twitchy and have sat on their hands so Junior hasn't pulled out so far and I imagine the P.M. thinks all is quiet on the Western Front. It's only a matter of time; these schemes always fold as they're basically unsound but by then Mason and Steers will have made a nice sum of money which will be in some offshore tax haven.'

'And whenever that happens… Dempsey left the statement hanging in the air.

'Egg on faces all round,' Harry finished for him, 'as Spikings would say.' The Detective Inspector wanted to put a plan together to get a decent chance of arrest before she went to the boss.

'You told him yet?' The American was curious to know how Harry was playing this as she was a kind of a 'by the book,' girl or was until she'd been corrupted by yours truly.

'Not yet, the Superintendent will want a plan of action to approve and I haven't got that far and you did say I should come to you for manpower as I just have me.' Her blue eyes searched his to see what kind of buy-in she'd got but it was difficult to read his expression other than general admiration for her physical form which he wasn't bothering to hide.

'And I guess you want some kind of credit for the collar,' the American read her like a book. Makepeace was an ambitious woman and maybe helping with this was the way to get out of the kennel.

'I'd like to see justice being done and yes I'd like to get some credit as I've done a lot of the legwork or deskwork if you prefer.' Harry's blue eyes challenged his as she was getting impatient with the cat and mouse game. 'Are you going to help me or not?'

He smiled at her somewhat smugly as he knew how much she wanted this. 'I'll think about it,' he picked up the file and started to peruse it and then looked back at her. 'Anything else?'

'Lunch,' she offered casually; he'd assessed correctly she did want this result as she'd been frustrated by the lack of success on pursuing the two individuals. Harry was prepared to use her charms as appropriate but obviously not in the same way as James used his, well not to that extent and after all this was Dempsey.

'My treat,' he responded in kind and picked up his jacket and followed her out. He noticed his team were watching them like they were on prime time T.V. but then Harry was looking particularly hot today so he gave credit where credit was due.

-oOo-

Dempsey shared his green salad with Harry as to be honest it was just decorative as far as he was concerned and she passed over her fries; it was a routine they'd got used to over the years and it was second nature to them. Bradshaw had been very lyrical on the subject of the ex-partner's intimate behaviour suggesting she probably washed behind Dempsey's ears in the shower and that was the censored version.

'So, two ways as I see it,' James took a swig of his beer, 'we either get Junior to pull out of the deal and disassociate himself or we get someone who's a big deal in the financial world to invest and then pull out and question the operation.'

Harry considered this whilst putting a sprinkling of balsamic dressing on her salad. 'It would probably be better to do the latter as then Junior could look like an innocent victim. If we suggest the former, then he would be responsible for undermining other investors funds and it would be hard to get him out of it without mud sticking.'

'I'd like to see him in the mud right up to his neck cos stupidity should be a crime but then that's me, the guy's just after a quick buck based on exploiting the family name.' He gave her a cheeky smile, 'not like you Makepeace cos you pay your own bills.'

Harry came clean on her finances as she wasn't one to take credit for something that wasn't due. 'I do get a certain amount of funding from my father; I get an allowance from the estate as it's heir so I'm not that squeaky clean and I am very aware of the privilege.'

'In that case lunch is on you,' he growled. 'I've got two Opera tickets for Friday, you free?' He almost choked on his beer at the surprise on Harry's face, it was almost comical.

'Opera,' she said faintly, 'with you?' She couldn't imagine James sitting through an opera in a thousand years. 'Which one?' She asked as she took a fortifying sip of wine.

'Turandot, Puccini at the Royal Opera House thought you'd like it,' he offered hoping he hadn't shelled out good money for the turkey just to find out she was dining with her Aunt Snooty or Uncle Duffy.

'You know you can't talk through the opera don't you, or eat popcorn?' Her cool gaze appraised him, he was obviously doing this to increase his chances of getting into her knickers to put it crudely. On the other hand, it would be amusing to see him try and endure the performance. 'That would be lovely,' she placated him as she could see that dangerous look taking over his expression.

'What do they do instead of popcorn,' he enquired with hard fought for patience as he speared the fries almost tempted to go extreme Brooklyn for the evening just to stick it to her. Chas's ball and chain was probably grateful for his efforts not like Makepeace and her unpleasant remarks.

'Well we can order champagne cocktails for the intermission that would be lovely,' she smiled charmingly at him. 'And I can make us a light supper before we go or we could eat later….

'Later,' he responded in a determined tone. If he was going to sit through some fat broad screeching then at least there should be a 'later.' He could see Harry was amused and it annoyed him how she played him sometimes. 'This ain't going on forever babe, so enjoy it while you can.'

'Enjoy what?' Harry rested her chin on her hands and observed him in with a look of mock innocence. She could see that James was straining at the leash of his own remorse.

'You're asking for it,' he growled as he took a mouthful of beer his gaze dark and brooding.

'No, I'm really not,' she responded in a cool, mocking tone, 'but if you've bought opera tickets you obviously are.' She should've resisted that comment but she really couldn't.

Dempsey gave her a wince of a smile and then finished his beer and chucked some money on the table to cover the meal and left her there. He'd almost forgotten her former skill at winding him up after some imagined injury he'd caused but today was a doozy and after he'd tried to do something nice for her. Hell, would freeze over before he grovelled for one more day!

'Oh dear,' Harry sighed, she shouldn't have done that. It was a definite fact that she was less adept at calming her worse self with James than any other person on the planet. He just pulls my strings, she admitted to herself, damn!


	9. Chapter 9

The Opera House was a revelation to Dempsey, he'd been to concerts before but this was something else. He'd looked up the dress code and wore a dark suit and wine coloured tie with a white shirt and he had to admit he looked very dapper. Harry was a vision in blue and his heart had skipped a beat when he met her in front of the building. She had some kind of silk thing draped around her shoulders, in a darker shade of blue than her dress the whole effect was stunning.

'I sometimes forget how beautiful you are and then I feel like I've been punched in the gut when you turn up like that,' he'd momentarily forgotten he was annoyed with her.

'Ah, a compliment,' she noted as their communication over the last week had been somewhat lacking in warmth. Dempsey looked very handsome, he must have left work early she surmised. 'You look very dashing James; I don't remember ever seeing you in a lounge suit. You should wear them more often.'

'I wear them when I go and see the Chief Super but you don't usually tag along to those sessions,' he was inadvertently pulling rank with that statement as Harry would only attend if Spikings didn't. 'If you like them I'll wear them,' he took her arm and guided her to the bar as they were early and the show didn't start for around forty minutes. He ordered her a drink and placed an order for the interval for two champagne cocktails as she'd requested during their ill-fated meal.

'You remembered,' she smiled up at him as she sipped her drink, 'thank you for inviting me here James, it's a lovely treat,' she swallowed hard as he took the jewellers box containing the ring out of his pocket.

'Put it on, it goes with the dress,' he opened the box and slid the ring on her finger. 'You said you'd wear it as a dress ring and that's the dress,' he murmured as she put the box into her evening bag.

'It's beautiful,' she responded her throat dry as she tried to be nonchalant about it. 'I'm sorry about lunch the other day,' she wrinkled her nose appealingly as she looked remorseful. He just nodded but didn't indicate whether he'd accepted her apology. 'Are you still annoyed with me,' her blue eyes searched his. She couldn't read him because he didn't want her to so she would suppose she hadn't been totally forgiven.

'I read the story that goes with the singing,' he gave a wry smile, 'riveting stuff. Turandot was a tough dame like you; made it hard for the Prince to woo her but he does in the end so that's nice.'

'Opera's always very dramatic, lots of betrayal, deaths and love, it's a bit like the day job really,' she sipped the cocktail. 'There are some very tuneful pieces that you may recognise from elsewhere.'

'Nessum Dorma, I'm part Italian I heard that before,' he ran his arm around her shoulders, 'I'll try not to embarrass you angel,' he sipped his whisky enjoying the smokey taste, 'promise not to sing along.'

'And please don't fidget,' she eyed him with affection. 'You seem to forget that I've sat with you through a lot of stakeouts and I have an inbuilt radar for your boredom level.

'I used to think about you when I was bored and then I'd have to stop cos… His smile was self-deprecating but she had no problem in following his line of thought.

'You can leave that there; I used to think about you too. I often used to think of dropping my tea in your lap,' she raised her eyebrows to emphasise the point, 'or in the summer a cold beverage to cool you down.' She adjusted her wrap feeling rather warm all of a sudden.

'Is that all you thought about? Punishing me for what, being a guy? I think sometimes you felt a little romantic too because I, am very tuned into your body chemistry and…

'James, I can't hit you in front of all these people but I swear if you continue I will not be answerable,' she sipped her cocktail and nodded to an acquaintance in the crowd. She could feel a faint blush colouring her skin because she had had some very steamy thoughts about her partner from time to time and could well imagine her pheromones had been off the wall.

'It's natural,' he shrugged, 'nothing to be ashamed of. I think this broad Turandot could do with some maybe that's why she was so cranky.' He bought a program, 'like to follow the story,' he lied without shame.

'You just want to work out how far we are from the end,' Harry responded mocking him. 'If we go to a serious film you're just the same but at least then you can eat popcorn and slurp a bucket of coke.'

'Charming,' he responded as the audio system announced they could take their seats. 'Come on babe, let's do opera.' He used his strongest Brooklyn tones to get up her nose but didn't spoil her enjoyment of the production by any further untoward behaviour.

Harry was indulgent as he hummed Nessum Dorma throughout the journey back to her place in the taxi, she didn't think he'd absolutely hated it and if he did he'd hidden it well.

'It's a good tune, I couldn't see anyone falling in love with the dame in the opera, she was a big girl, fine set of lungs. Nasty habit of killing people off though; you'd have to watch out.'

Harry laughed. 'Yes, well the story of the opera is really just there to lace the aria's together so they're usually very dramatic and to be honest not at all believable.'

'Nice evening,' he took her hand and played with her fingers. 'Did you enjoy it? Or were you too worried I'd misbehave,' his warm gaze met hers. 'Didn't want to spoil it for you princess cos I know Fry's there waiting in the wings…

'He offered to take me,' Harry smiled. 'It was nice of him but I had to decline.' She looked at him suspiciously, 'did you know that?'

'Course I knew it; I had a word with him about it too.' He gave instructions to the taxi driver and leant back, 'asked him what he was doing hitting on my fiancée.'

'I'm going to ignore that as you're just trying to wind me up,' she freed her hand as they got to her place. 'You didn't say that?' She turned to look at him as she unlocked the door.

Dempsey just laughed, 'what, you don't think I'm territorial,' he followed her into the kitchen as she got out the meal she'd made earlier and put it in the oven to heat up. 'What can I do to help,' he ran his hands around her waist and kissed the back of her neck.

'When you touch me, all I can think of is you touching some faceless woman, charming her as you charm me,' she turned around her eyes vulnerable as she looked at him. 'I can't get it out of my head.'

'Harry, guys don't see sex the way women do. And it's not the same with anyone else, not for me. Anyway, it's about all the other things, I love all your annoying little habits cos they're you.'

'What do I do that's annoying?' She frowned, 'I can't think of any annoying habits…. She could see he didn't want to get into an argument but he was prepared to elucidate.

'You always turn the heater up in the car; you cut your food into tiny pieces and if there's any fat it gets exiled to the edge of your plate, you talk to me when the game is on or when I'm reading the paper; you always shower after sex which is unnecessary and you never just tell other guys to get lost; you're so polite it makes me want to scream. And you eat salad, who eats salad it's a garnish to make the plate pretty.' He could see he'd got her off the 'faceless woman,' gig cos that wasn't going anywhere he wanted to follow. He knew he'd hurt her but they'd got to get past that.

'Don't get me started,' she remarked dryly, 'because if we get into food habits there aren't enough hours.' She looked up at him, 'and top marks for distracting me from the subject of Dorothea.'

'You've got to let that go angel,' he ran his thumb over the line of her jaw his dark eyes warm and concerned. 'I want to kiss you, hold you. Just go with it and don't think…. His mouth dropped to hers and he gently teased her lips until they softened under his. She was pliant in his arms but she wasn't responding like she had in the past and he lifted his head and searched her eyes and hated the aching vulnerability he saw there. 'Har-ry,' he coaxed her his vocal tones liquid with warmth and he buried his face in her neck.

'I can't… not yet,' she whispered. She pulled away and set the table for their meal feeling extremely awkward and knowing she'd disappointed him.

'It's okay,' he growled picking up his glass of wine and taking a decent slug of it. He wondered how long this was going to take and if she was ever going to get over it. He cursed himself for his stupidity remembering the time when they'd argued and torn each other's' clothes off in the hall, that was his Harry not this damaged Harry who couldn't bear his touch.

'I can't help it. I'd understand it if you didn't want to see me socially,' she put their meals on the table and sat down opposite him. 'This isn't what you want,' that came out rather bleakly she had to admit.

'I'll take anything I can get,' he sat down. 'This looks good,' he looked over at her, 'relax, I'm not about to leap on you or get heavy with you; I guess it's baby steps.'

She swallowed hard and nodded. 'I suppose it is,' Harry was worried that she would never get over it and she wanted to because she cared very much for James and she knew life without him would be very hard indeed.

They finished their dinner and he got up and caught her hand and led her to the couch, he selected a video for them to watch and then pulled her into his arms and held her close. 'Comfortable,' he murmured.

'Yes,' she responded shifting slightly and settling against him and she willed herself to relax, 'yes this is nice.' His presence was soothing and she'd felt very troubled of late. The rise and fall of his chest mesmerised her and his aftershave was so familiar that she wished she could bottle the unique James scent and keep it by her always. She was in love with him and she'd known that for some time. She hadn't liked Simone's greater knowledge of her partner and she'd certainly been very annoyed with Suzanne and then there was Dorothea… She blocked out the other women in his life and just breathed him in.

Dempsey half watched the film his focus finely tuned into Harry's movement and mood and then after a while he realised she was drifting off to sleep. He watched her snuggle against his chest and a wave of tenderness flooded through him. 'I got you Harry,' he said softly, 'I got you.'


	10. Chapter 10

Bradshaw knocked on Harry's door, it was early morning but he'd been told to update her on some disturbing news. He tapped his foot as he waited for a response, nice gaff, must be Daddy's money you wouldn't get this place on a coppers salary.

Harry woke up to the sound of knocking and realised she was in her bed and Dempsey was wrapped around her. She struggled to free herself. 'Someone is at the door,' she told him as he woke up and groaned, he wasn't a morning person. She ran downstairs hastily tying her robe and opened the door. 'Bradshaw,' Makepeace acknowledged, 'it's six a.m. what is it?'

'Jail break, Fiorelli, Spikings thought you should know,' his gaze ran over her. 'Sorry, didn't mean to wake you,' he had to admit the D.I. looked good with no make-up on, hair tousled, bare lips, very beddable. 'Fiorelli knows you're in the force after the court case so you should watch your back.'

'All right, I will thanks,' she turned to leave and then it became obvious Bradshaw wasn't following suit. 'I'll be careful,' she reiterated in a deliberate tone hoping that would send the Sergeant on his way.

'I'll stay here and follow you to work, no rush,' he made his way back to the car much to Harry's disquiet. 'Superintendent Spikings said you needed protection,' he threw over his shoulder. Bradshaw had no intention of screwing up again with the Ice Queen.

She went back upstairs and Dempsey was already in the shower so she padded through to the kitchen to make some coffee and tea and popped some bread into the toaster.

James came into the kitchen drying his hair, 'who was that?' He glanced over at her, 'funny time to make a house call.'

'That was Bradshaw and he's still outside, Spikings told him to get over here as I needed protection. Apparently, Angelo Fiorelli has broken out of prison.' She could see Dempsey face darken at that.

'I'll go tell Bradshaw that I've got you covered,' Dempsey growled as he picked up a piece of toast. In his opinion there was no point in wasting the team's resource when he was there, nobody could look after the princess, better than him.

'No, you will not, they gossip enough already as it is.' She looked out of the window and could see Bradshaw's car. 'I could get a lift from Bradshaw and then you could take my car.'

'Oh, that's a good idea,' Dempsey said sarcastically, 'and no-one will notice when I turn up in your car cos they're a bunch of lousy detectives.'

Harry frowned, 'well you could drive to your place and get your car and then give me a lift back this evening and I can collect mine.' It was a bit annoying to have to go to such lengths but she liked to keep her work and private life separate.

'They think we're engaged why would we do that? Nobody told them we'd split up unless you went round saying it.' Dempsey gaze questioned her, 'did you tell people that?' She looked awkward so she probably had and that got right up his nose, it was like she couldn't wait to get rid of him.

'I er…. I might have mentioned it to Joyce,' Harry offered weakly, 'and I may have said something to Spikings. I can't really remember,' she clutched her forehead. 'What are you doing?' She eyed Dempsey warily as he pulled on the jeans and a shirt he'd left at her house.

'What you should have done,' he took the stairs two at a time and opened the door and walked over to his subordinate's car. He leaned into the window, 'no need to provide protection for D.I. Makepeace I got it covered. I'll see you in the office later.'

'Yes sir,' Bradshaw's eyes were out on stalks as the Chief Inspector obviously hadn't shaved yet and he'd slipped trainers on and no socks. So, there was something going on between the two of them. The Yank had something of a reputation with the ladies but there was no doubt about it bedding DI Makepeace was mega, the lucky bastard.

'Okay then,' Dempsey patted the top of the car indicating Bradshaw should move off and if he wanted to spread gossip then so what. He went back into the house and joined Harry and drank down the coffee she'd made. 'Not bad, might make a barista out of you yet.'

'I really wish you hadn't done that,' Harry was annoyed as she hated the snippets of gossip she overheard about the two of them. She was a private person and didn't like to be the subject of discussion.

'Why, you're my girl. It don't bother me that people know about it,' he picked up another piece of toast and came over to her and put his arm around her shoulders. 'Don't worry about it Harry,' he kissed her forehead and then sat down for his breakfast.

'You haven't got socks on and you haven't shaved,' she gave an annoyed groan. 'It's obvious that you've stayed the night… It was alright for Dempsey, they'd all be mentally slapping him on the back for supposedly getting her into bed and he'd be swaggering around like some testosterone fuelled gorilla.

'Yeah, so what?' Dempsey found it annoying that she kept on denying there was a 'them.' What the hell was the point?

'You weren't invited to,' she reminded him crossly. Typical Dempsey, couldn't leave her alone just kept chipping away at her defences. He should have left last night but he'd taken advantage of her exhaustion instead.

'You fell asleep, what was I supposed to do?' He finished off his breakfast, took the socks she handed him and went for a shave.

Harry sighed and went to the bathroom for her shower, James could be really annoying at times. After she'd finished bathing she dressed in a suit to look more official and she had to admit she looked untouched by human hand until her ex-partner pulled her into his arms.

'Always want to mess you up when you look all calm and collected,' he laughed down at her and his mouth sank to her neck and he nuzzled her. 'I know that drives you crazy,' he nipped her teasingly.

'Dempsey, stop it,' she swatted him off her and turned to the mirror. 'When I look like this,' she straightened her skirt, 'it creates an element of doubt.' She gave him a warning look when his hands warmed her hips and he pressed his body against her rear as she straightened her blouse.

'You're joking, you answered the door in your robe and I told Bradshaw to take a hike looking less than groomed, it's obvious we just got up,' he kissed the back of her neck. 'You smell gorgeous, and when you dress like that all the guys wonder if you're wearing stockings,' his hand trailed over her thigh. 'And yeah, you are,' his warm eyes teased her and then darkened with desire as his hands ran over her ass appreciating her feminine curves.

'Not in a million years,' she slapped his hands away. 'Apart from not being available for your somewhat rough and ready attempt at seduction; I need to get to work and if you want a lift to your place you'd better get a move on.'

'Spoilsport,' his gaze ran over her assessing her mood she looked mildly annoyed and he put that down as normal. 'I'll ride with you since Fiorelli's around. I don't want you going anywhere on your own so no need to go to my place, we'll take your car.'

'You're not listening are you but then again you never really do,' she fixed her make up in the mirror and tutted at the red mark on her neck where his stubble had caught her. 'Spikings will probably say I have to have twenty-four-hour protection and you need to do the things you do so I can't depend on you for twenty-four-hour cover; you won't get assigned.'

'Don't be too sure about that,' he pulled on his leather jacket. 'Okay let's go,' he picked up his keys and wallet and followed her out.

-oOo-

Spikings viewed Dempsey with his usual fiery appraisal. 'So, you decided to dismiss Bradshaw from D.I. Makepeace's protection all because you were Johnny-on-the-spot so to speak.'

'Yeah, I was there. We'd been to the Opera the night before and I stayed over; no big deal. No point in using Bradshaw's resource when she'd already got me there.'

'You didn't think to be more discrete about your presence,' Spikings asked baldly. 'Gossip about Harry isn't going to do her career any good…

'Chief we announced our engagement already it's old news. As far as I'm aware female officers can still get married,' he ran his hand around his jaw and guessed he still had a five-o clock shadow cos that razor he'd borrowed off the princess wasn't up to the job. 'Anyway, I'll look after Harry…

'You will not. You have a full schedule and you're the head of this unit. I suggest you assign Bradshaw and Morrison and then you get on with your job which is to keep this city safe and that's an order.'

'Told you so,' Harry said coolly as he left the Superintendent's office. 'Spikings is right. You haven't got time to protect me James, you're very busy and I have to go to court today and do some shopping so I will see you when I see you.'

'You'll see me later, I'll drop by.' His dark gaze was determined on hers cos there was no way she was gonna get away with playing Miss Goody Two Shoes when that slimeball was after her ass. 'I'm sleeping over and as I'm your fiancé it would be weird if I didn't unless you want to reacquaint yourself with Mr Fiorelli.'

'No thanks,' Harry responded with a shudder. She knew James well enough to know that he'd break into her place if she didn't allow him to protect her and that made her insides melt although she would never dream of admitting it. She could also remind him that she'd broken the engagement but she didn't do that either and technically the ring was back in her possession. 'I'll make dinner so don't snack,' she relented as she pulled on her jacket and picked up her briefcase, 'I'll see you this evening.'

'Hey,' he pulled her round. 'Don't I get a kiss,' his dark gaze moved over her mouth. 'One little kiss to send me on my way,' he pulled her to him. His view was that he needed to get the old Harry back so getting her used to his touch was a major thing with him.

'I'll give you a boot up the rear end to see you on your way,' Spikings came in and glowered. 'Let go of the Detective Inspector, Dempsey and get back to work.'

The American theatrically took his hands off Makepeace and went to the door giving her a bold wink as he left.

'Why, Harry?' Spikings question was almost involuntary and to add to that he felt himself very much to blame for partnering the pair of them.

'To tell you the truth sir, I really don't know. Well I suppose Dempsey is like me, highly competitive, ambitious and dedicated to the job, they're his good points and his bad points to be honest.'

'Y-e-s,' The Superintendent concurred. 'Have you got me anything on the P.M.'s sprog yet, that might cheer me up.' He noticed Harry looked pensive.

'Actually sir, I got side-tracked on that. I'll get right back to it immediately although I do need the Chief Inspector's help,' she shrugged and looked at him hopefully.

'Just get on with it Harry, but watch yourself. This Fiorelli thing and Dempsey beating his chest has all the wrong vibes.'

Harry nodded seeing the sense in that. 'I'll try and calm the situation down. James will insist on being with me overnight as he still has problems with the Thriller Killer operation and he won't trust anyone else.'

'Nevertheless, Bradshaw and Morrison, Hargreaves and Watson and Fry and Kilhane will be taking shifts. We need Fiorelli back behind bars and we need to keep our officers safe. What you and Dempsey do in your free time is very much up to you, Detective Inspector,' Spikings disapproval was evident.

'Yes sir,' she acquiesced but had to admit to feeling rather naughty, like a teenager with a love bite on her neck. She felt very awkward when her personal life was brought into her work life, very awkward indeed.


	11. Chapter 11

Joyce sat with Harry in her home as they checked the security equipment she'd had installed, it all looked fine, everything was operational. 'We have some leads on Fiorelli, it's difficult to disappear completely and most people re-visit old haunts.'

'Agreed,' Harry sipped a glass of wine. 'Is Watson outside?' She hadn't seen him but she knew he'd been assigned. Hargreaves and Watson had grown into a strong partnership over the last couple of years and it reminded her of the old days with Dempsey which she missed.

'Yes, he's checking all the cars in the vicinity and radioing them into Fry, so we'll know if there are any suspect vehicles. Dempsey should be along in about an hour, he got called into a meeting with the Super just as I left. I have to say the current workload is unreasonable they seem to give our department all the screw ups from the other divisions as well as our own mandate. Sometimes I think the Chief Inspector is too good at his job.' She laughed wryly. 'Don't ever tell him I said that.'

Harry smiled and agreed. 'I know, he is a very good copper, I told you that in another lifetime or so it seems. She cooked dinner for four and left some in the oven for Watson and Dempsey as both men should be with them shortly.

Harry and Joyce sat down and ate the pasta bake and were eating fruit for dessert when the security alarm alerted them blaring loudly, and they jumped up in shock and looked at each other. Both women took their weapons out.

'It's at the rear of the property,' Joyce's checked the monitor. 'Watson,' she attempted to get hold of her partner on the RT. 'There's something going on at the rear of the property do you copy.' There was no answer and Hargreaves frowned.

Suddenly it was like the fourth of July in Harry's garden a cacophony of sound joined the blaring alarm. 'What's their game plan, are they're trying to make us go out the front,' Harry said as she tried to work out what was happening.

'I think we should stay put,' Joyce shouted so that she could be heard over the noise. She radioed into control only to find the frequency didn't work. 'Damn it,' she bit out. 'They're blocking our communication.'

The sound of a gunfire going off caught their attention. 'Dempsey's magnum,' Harry recognised the sound. 'Pile the furniture against the doors and windows,' they carefully constructed cover for themselves as a minor war was happening in Camberwell Gardens. 'The neighbours are going to ask me to move,' the Detective Inspector said tersely.

'Yes, well I can see their point,' Hargreaves glanced over. It wasn't every day a gun battle went on in a well to do, leafy suburb of London. 'Let's hope SI10 are in control of whatever is going on out there.'

'Oh my God,' Harry cried out as some kind of battering ram was being used on the front door, the sound of splintering of wood was deafening. She looked around the living room and then moved behind the couch with Sergeant Hargreaves.

Five men stormed into the room wielding an impressive amount of hardware and faced the two policewomen. Fiorelli was behind them and he pointed at Harry, 'you, come with me or your friend will be a dead woman.'

Joyce caught Harry's arm in warning as she didn't want her friend to be abducted by the Italian gangster.

A tannoy confirmed Dempsey's presence. 'Police, lay down your weapons, you're surrounded come out with your hands above your heads.'

Fiorelli sniggered. 'We may be surrounded but we have two hostages so your colleague is hardly likely to shoot. Now we can stay holed up here with one dead cop and you and I can have some fun or you, Harry isn't it, you can come with me and your friend can stay alive. I've got nothing to lose how about you?'

Makepeace bit her lip but then jumped as a shot was fired just short of Hargreaves, 'okay, okay put down your weapons, I'll go with you.'

'Harry that's suicide' Joyce protested but she could see the determined tilt to Harry's jaw and knew she was going to sacrifice herself rather than see her friend and colleague shot in front of her.

'You,' one of Fiorelli's thugs shouted at Hargreaves, 'put the gun on the floor and kick it over here.'

As they were outnumbered the Sergeant did as she was told and then it all went black seconds later as she received a blow to her jaw.

Fiorelli shouted to the Chief Inspector that he had the girl and that if he wanted her to see tomorrow he'd better back off and let them leave.

Dempsey groaned as he saw Harry dragged out of the house with a guy's arm around her neck and a gun to her head. He turned to Chas, 'I don't want them leaving here with her.' He was tortured with what might happen to Harry if that thug had her at his mercy. He'd read the file on Fiorelli's activities and it weren't pretty.

'We need to get out of this area it's too heavily populated Jim, civilians could get hurt in the crossfire, we've got a chopper up monitoring the scene they can follow the car,' he was relieved when Dempsey nodded in agreement.

At that moment, a rather smart new motor drove up and Spikings got out. 'Stand down Chief Inspector, I'm taking over this operation,' he turned to Chas. 'What have you got D.I. Jarvis?' He listened patiently as Chas briefed him.

Dempsey was boiling over with fury and glared at Jarvis as he was pretty sure where the call to the boss had come from. The American was terrified of what might happen to Harry and didn't want anyone else getting in the way of the retrieval. 'Boss….

'Don't be stupid Dempsey, you must be well aware that you can't run this operation; she's your fiancée as far as the Chief Superintendent's concerned. I'll keep you informed, you can sit on my shoulder if you like, I've always wanted a parrot, but you cannot lead this.'

The American cooled down albeit he was still glowering, Fiorelli's cars moved off and the chopper followed giving the team directions as to where the D.I. was being taken.'

Spikings arranged for the team to be followed by a series of SI10 drivers and when the tail was in place he called off the chopper. 'They need to think we've lost them,' he ran a hand over his short prickly hair. 'It looks like they're heading out of London, does Fiorelli have any known residence outside the city?'

Bradshaw came forward, 'he has a boat on the Thames sir; it's a big gin palace moored at Henley,' he saw that information didn't exactly delight Spikings but he was pleased to have intel that his American, gung-ho, senior officer didn't have.

'Henley, I can see the newspaper headlines now, the Royal Regatta's on this week so that will be lovely. We'd have been better off upsetting the luvvies and lefties here than taking on an operation outside the manor. Get me the Oxfordshire police, head of; I need a word.'

'You ain't letting a bunch of local uniforms handle this,' Dempsey interjected just to receive a Paddington Bear glare from his boss. 'Worst they deal with is a bunch of chinless wonders getting naughty after too much fizz!' The Yank wasn't pleased.

'Well let's hope he takes the boat out of the town and to somewhere we can affect a rescue if that's where they're going, it looks promising from the intel we're receiving; Fiorelli's heading in that direction. 'Get the chopper to come down and we can get there before they do,' Spikings barked.

Dempsey, Spikings and a hand-picked team of six were transported out of the city by air in two helicopters and made their way swiftly to Henley-on-Thames to meet with the local force. The Yank got stuck with the job of cajoling the local Inspector to play ball which took a lot of tact and that was hard for him but then Harry's safety was at stake so that kept him polite.

They reconnoitred the boat and waited for Fiorelli to turn up which he did and he bundled Harry on board much to the consternation of local passers-by. That caused something of an altercation and the crew hastily cast off the boat and headed up river towards Wargrave and Sonning.

Spikings requisitioned a boat and they followed with the SI10 officers assisting the crew as they kept one lock behind the 'Dolce Vita,' which was Fiorelli's boat.

'I could go faster walking along the bank,' Dempsey complained to no-one in particular as they slowly motored by the expensive houses in their riverside estates.

'We're not in the equivalent of a car chase Chief Inspector, we're obeying the rules of the river and keeping in contact with the villains' boat. When they moor up we'll take action.' Spikings would have dearly liked to dump the Yank on the bank but unfortunately needed to keep a close eye on his protégé.

'That scum could be doing anything he likes to Harry while we're crawling along like this, pull alongside and I'll go in.' Dempsey fear was growing as he hadn't seen Fiorelli on deck and that made him antsy.

'I'm sure Makepeace can take care of herself she's used to dealing with yobs with an Italian heritage,' Spikings remarked tongue in cheek. 'They're mooring up, we need to go past them and moor up further on,' he informed the man at the wheel. He looked over at Chas. 'Find out who owns the land at this point we may need access to the property along the bank.'

Jarvis had a rapid conversation with the guy driving the boat who knew the river well and made a few calls, they were given access to the land the Dolce Vita had moored on and rapidly took position. Dempsey checked his Magnum and caught Spikings glare. 'I'm working under your instruction boss, I ain't leading this.'

'I'll handcuff you to the boat if I have to Dempsey. I have not gone through the pain of getting you fit for purpose for your current position just so that you can throw it away because you don't trust your colleagues.' He saw the Yank's struggle with that, they were his men and he couldn't show a lack of confidence in them.

'Get her back for me boss,' his dark, tortured gaze met the older man's. Spikings gave a curt nod and set about retrieving Detective Inspector Makepeace.

-oOo—

Dempsey kept his binoculars on Fiorelli's boat and his interest was caught by one of the windows which seemed to be opening.

Spikings was occupied with a discussion with the landowner about the best way to surround the boat and the likelihood of bringing a police boat alongside.

Whilst the boss was occupied Dempsey stealthily left the boat they were on and made his way down the bank and got nearer to the Dolce Vita. Yeah, someone was unscrewing the window and efficiently moving the whole window out onto the fibre glass hull of the boat. He saw a flash of blonde hair and smiled to himself. 'You're doing great, baby.'

Harry crouched down on the hull and took off her jacket and slowly lowered herself into the river and slid soundlessly into the water.

Dempsey watched her disappear under the water and started to get concerned when she didn't come back up and then just as he was pulling off his trainers to dive in she bobbed up near the bank and started to swim along it. He saw her approaching a shallow beach and rapidly made his way along the riverbank towards it. He pulled off his sweatshirt as it was a relatively warm evening but she'd be cold after being in the water.

'C'mon honey,' he softly encouraged the blonde officer as he crouched down near the shallows ready to haul her out. He saw her still and wondered what the hell she was stalling for and then realised she might not recognise him from that distance so he beckoned to her.

Harry saw a dark shadow near the bank and got ready to fight but then the figure waved at her and she recognised Dempsey's familiar outline. She increased her pace until she was near enough for him to haul her out. He grabbed her under her arms and dragged her out of the river and behind a clump of trees as sounds of alarm could be heard from the direction of Fiorelli's boat.

'You okay,' he quickly unbuttoned her wet shirt and dealt with her bra and then pulled the sweatshirt over her head and she hastily thrust her arms into the sleeves.

'Thanks, yes.' She rubbed her arms to get rid of the chill and then took off her sodden jeans as the sweatshirt reached mid-thigh on her. She saw Dempsey quell a grin as his masculine gaze ran over her bare legs and gave him a knowing look. 'I had to leave my shoes on the boat,' she said in a soft voice looking dubiously at the gravel path.

'No problem,' he swung her up into his arms and carried her over the gravel to the grassy bank while she hung on around his neck. Harry was quite impressed by the ease with which he'd carried her and had to admit that James could easily figure as a romantic hero in this kind of situation as she enjoyed their close proximity and the warmth of his body. When he put her down she had cool grass under her feet as they made her way back to the boat Spikings had commandeered.

'How's Joyce,' Harry asked the dark American as they neared the boat. She was worried as her friend had been unconscious when she left.

'In the ambulance last time I saw her, she'll be okay Hargreaves is a tough broad.' He turned to her and caught her arm in a firm grip, 'what happened to you? Did Fiorelli touch you; cos if he did he's a dead man.' His face had a menacing set to it and Harry really didn't envy anyone who got on the wrong side of Dempsey and she had to admit to a dark frisson of delight that her protector was the hard man of SI0.

'Relax,' she reassured him covering his hand with hers, 'he was too busy losing the police tail to be shall we say romantic. I just got pushed into the cabin which you presumably saw me breaking out of. Fiorelli's team can't have been very familiar with their boat as they didn't seem to be aware that the windows can be completely taken out,' Harry answered somewhat smugly.

'I didn't know that either cos I never had the privilege of cruising down the Hudson as a kid,' he answered sarcastically depressing her pretensions but appreciating the brief caress. 'Boss is in control of the operation; I had to take a back-seat cos of our relationship.'

'I can see that,' Harry said in a dry tone as Dempsey had been the one that had obviously taken the most interest in her escape by virtue of the fact he'd had the boat in sight every second she'd been on it. It made her feel warm inside that James was always there for her.

Spikings had discovered Dempsey was missing and was suitably irate until he saw his two most competent officers making their way to the boat. He sighed with relief to see Harry out of Fiorelli's clutches.

I won't ask,' Spikings said acerbically. 'Glad to have you back with us D.I. Makepeace, you can come to London with me and since Harry's no longer involved you can apprehend the villains, Dempsey. Try not to damage the boat too much as the owners will want it back.' He got into his new car, a well-earned perk of the promotion, and put a blanket down for Makepeace to sit on and gave her a bag to put her wet clothes in as he didn't want a stain or the smell of river water in his new motor.

Fry, who'd had the job of following the helicopter borne team out of London in the Superintendent's car, warmly welcomed Harry as he fired the engine and headed for the SI10 offices. Makepeace had a change of clothes back at the factory and since the door to her home had been completely destroyed it wasn't considered safe for her to go back there until they'd manage to secure it.

'You may as well get your version of events down while they're fresh in your mind,' Spikings informed her, 'and then we can add abducting a police officer to Fiorelli's crime sheet. He'll never get out of prison,' the older man added grimly.

'Well I'll need to go home at some point as my handbag is there with my keys and credit cards,' Harry pointed out. She was happy to go back to the offices because that's where Dempsey would return to and she wanted to know he was all right. Besides if she couldn't spend the night in her own home because of the damage then she would at least want to go to Dempsey's.

'Fry can take you there after you've completed your report,' Spikings growled in his usual manner. 'I expect Dempsey will call in sooner or later or more likely Chas will.'

'Definitely more likely,' Harry agreed in an even tone. Dempsey's way of dealing with authority was to avoid it. And knowing that, she doubted he would update Spikings unless he needed the Superintendent to do something on his behalf.


	12. Chapter 12

_Thank you very much for the lovely reviews, I really appreciate them._

Dempsey returned to his apartment after a long and exhausting day and he smiled as he heard a glass of wine being poured. So, she had come here. He'd been over to her place and found the door boarded up and no sign of Harry.

'Hi,' she said her colour a little high as he entered the room and threw his keys in a bowl on the kitchen work surface. She felt a little presumptuous coming here but didn't think he'd mind.

'New career Harry, breaking and entering,' he came over to her and his gaze searched hers and he smiled as she took the key out of her pocket and dangled it off one finger.

'Not guilty as you can see I have the key you gave me,' she smiled at him her eyes flirtatious. 'And would a burglar make dinner for her victim?' Her gaze softened as she took in his weary expression. 'You look tired,' her hand cupped his jaw and her thumb ran over the abrasive stubble, 'and you're very scratchy.'

'Long day, your boyfriend wasn't keen on returning to the slammer and took some persuading and then we had to get the other boat back to the owner. The Dolce Vita didn't look too good by the time we'd finished, may need some work.' He appreciated her touch and took her hand and kissed it careful not to come on too strong; didn't want to frighten her off.

'Go and get a shower, you'll feel better for it and I'll finish making dinner,' the blonde gently disengaged and walked back over to the oven and checked on the food.

Dempsey watched her pleased to find her here using his stuff, he headed off for the shower and decided to shave as well because maybe if he wasn't scratchy she'd be more inclined to let him get closer.

Harry smiled as James sang in the shower and she set the table and got the food ready to be served. When he reappeared she subliminally noticed he'd shaved and it made her hormones jump because it signalled he was feeling romantic if she was that way inclined. She wondered if he would make a play for her tonight and decided he probably would knowing Dempsey. There was one certainty in this world and that was her ex-partner was always up for it.

'Something smells good,' he sat down and realised he was extremely hungry as he'd been living on adrenaline all day. He took the plate Harry passed him and thanked her. 'You didn't have to cook, we could have ordered in. You had quite a day. You okay?'

'I'm fine James,' she reassured him, 'it isn't the first time I've been abducted,' the blonde added wryly. She forked up some of the chicken, it was good.

'I'd like for it to be the last,' Dempsey said seriously. 'I kind of figured you'd be out of the firing line taking the job with Spikings.' His warm gaze ran over her he was so damned glad she was okay.

'What happened to life is hard and then you die,' Harry took a sip of the wine and gave him a mocking glance.

James sat back in his seat and his eyes held hers, 'what happened is I fell in love with this stubborn, know it all, hot, blonde fox and my life ain't been the same since she walked into it.'

Harry swallowed hard. 'Anyone I know,' she asked glibly and then realised that probably wasn't the right thing to say as she saw his jaw square.

'Not being clear enough huh! Okay,' he got off his seat and then got on one knee before her and said, 'Harry, will you marry me, I love you and if anything ever happened to you my life would be totally screwed.' He felt very awkward and hoped to hell she'd say yes.

'I love you too,' Harry responded softly totally charmed by his gruff, awkward manner, 'and yes I will marry you,' and then she half laughed and half cried. 'I never thought you'd ask me properly,' he rose to his feet and she was pulled into a hug that nearly broke her ribs. 'I said yes, you can loosen the grip, I'm not going anywhere.'

'Sorry,' he kissed all over her face and then took her lips in a kiss that burned right through both of them. Thank Christ for that, he'd never found a dame as hard to romance as Harry but now he'd got her it made him deeply thankful that a girl like her could care for a guy like him and that she could forgive him even when he'd royally screwed up.

Harry ran her arms around his neck and enjoyed letting go of the anger and hurt, she really did believe he loved her and that he always would whatever life threw at them. A little niggle did make her clarify one point. 'And James, no other women. I want you to promise me and mean it,' her blue eyes were determined on his.

'Hey, I already got the memo,' his warm eyes ran over her face and he could see she was serious, she wanted her promise. 'Okay I promise, not even operationally. I get it, I really do. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, Harry.' He kissed along her jaw trying to distract her from old grievances.

'Well in that case,' she undid the top button of her blouse and retrieved the ring and took it off the fine chain and handed it to him and then put out her hand.

James took the ring off her and slid it on her finger. 'You're my fiancée for real, it feels kind of weird after all the pretending. Should I go and see your Pop and ask him for permission. I'll do that if it's some old family tradition.' He kissed the stone and then kissed her with the kind of heat that started her pulse racing his mouth warm, caressing, demanding.

Harry dragged in oxygen when Dempsey raised his head and looked at her waiting for his answer she looked adorably confused.

'I've forgotten what…. oh, Freddie.' She took a deep, steadying breath and thought about it. 'I think asking for my hand in marriage would be a bit old fashioned, I'll tell him over the phone and then we'll both go down to Winfield Hall. Knowing Freddie, he'll throw a big party, he'll want to celebrate the occasion.

'I'm an old-fashioned guy when it comes to you,' James smiled at her. 'I want everything to be right for you, I want you all dressed in white, the whole works. He could see he'd surprised her.

'You do?' Harry was astonished but pleased because she'd got married on a beach last time as Freddie had disapproved her choice. She'd definitely expected a registry office wedding with very little fuss and was pleased that this time she'd get to do it in the traditional manner.

'Yeah, I do. You'll make a beautiful bride; I was thinking about that when we were going to Chas's wedding that time when the bride called it off. You were all dressed up; I thought then that some guy's heart would miss a beat if he was waiting at the church for you.'

'Oh, well all right then,' she smiled up at him quite touched at Dempsey being so romantic. 'There's a chapel at Winfield Hall, we can get married there.' She reached up on her tiptoes to kiss him. 'I think that we should discuss this in bed because you're obviously very tired,' she pressed her lower body against his and her eyes widened humorously. 'Unless you think we should wait until we get married.'

'That ship's already sailed,' he swung her up into his arms and headed for the bedroom which was no great distance. 'I feel nervous, I never proposed to anyone before.' His body language was in conflict with his words as he looked perfectly at ease with the blonde in his arms.

Harry smiled indulgently and ran her arms around his neck and kissed him with all the pent-up passion she'd denied them both which made him lose it and they ended up falling on the bed in a heap of limbs. 'Ouch,' Harry complained but then as he apologised with a kiss she decided that she wasn't too badly hurt and he could kiss her better as often as he wanted to.

-oOo—

Spikings took the news of the engagement as well as expected, he'd suspected something was going on between the two of them a lot earlier than the couple involved. 'Congratulations,' he said to Harry as she told him the news. 'Are you planning on a long engagement,' he asked tongue in cheek.

Harry laughed. 'I know what you're thinking sir, but I have every confidence that I will make it down the aisle. Dempsey can be quite reasonable you just have to know how to handle him.'

'I admire your confidence and optimism,' the Superintendent responded dryly. 'He's a good copper I'll give him that and he's even getting to learn the art of diplomacy which has been amusing to watch. I study his expression from time to time when he deals with the suits; it cheers up what would be a very boring part of my job.'

Harry nodded. Dempsey had great emotional intelligence when he paid attention and the boorish behaviour was often a cover to make people think he wasn't as bright as he actually was. It gave him an advantage when people underestimated him. 'Yes, well it's good that he can actually control his reaction because I would imagine some of the policies we have to follow must look very odd to an American cop.'

I'm a British cop and they seem odd to me,' Spikings growled. 'Anything on Mason and Steers because I'd like to see some movement on that without getting the brief back from the Home Office.'

'Well I know what they're up to sir, it's a matter of how to proceed without embarrassing the Prime Minister. It's a Ponzi scheme with the P.M.'s son providing the legitimacy as an early investor. The company is thriving at the moment until market confidence wanes. As with all these operations it's only a matter of time.'

'Surely Junior could cash in his option,' Spikings frowned. 'If the scheme failed after that it could just be called a shrewd financial decision.'

'He could sir, but then that might tip the balance and the collapse of the company could be laid at his door. Mason and Steers have rather cannily used Junior as the face to promote the investment. I would have suggested a plan of action if I could have seen a way to extract the P.M.'s son from the mix but it presents difficulties.' Harry tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear as she pondered the problem.

'Well go and talk to your fiancé and see if the pair of you can come up with something, otherwise we'll steer well clear. We need a rescue package which will get this division a halo from the Home Office, there are financial cuts in budget on the cards and I don't want to be the last in line for funding.'

'Yes sir,' Harry placated her senior officer as she could see he was irked by the possible impact of a budget reduction for SI10 and she didn't want the director's cut analysis on any of that or as Dempsey would put it, 'the boss going off on one.'


	13. Chapter 13

Harry dropped in on Dempsey and asked him to go over to the pub for a chat, 'that is if you're finished for the day.'

The Chief Inspector leaned back in his chair, 'I'm never finished for the day, it's just a matter of when I feel I've done enough,' he responded his gaze running over her. Harry looked very pretty today in her navy linen dress, it had a severe style which emphasised her blonde, blue eyed, charm. She was like some Saxon maiden, cool, calm and collected. Made him want to mess up her hair and kiss her soft mouth until it was full and sensual.

'Well have you done enough then,' she responded sitting on the side of his desk. 'I've had an idea about how we can get Junior out of his current difficulties and I wanted to bounce it off you.'

'Bounce away,' he smiled at her with that masculine confidence which used to irritate the hell out of her.

When had she begun to find it charming, what was the moment, probably after she'd got drunk that time and he'd made sure she got home okay. 'I thought I could lure you away from here with a beer and scampi fries,' she smiled at him in a charming fashion.

'Are you flirting with me Detective Inspector,' he asked in a mock outraged tone.

'Yes, I think I am. Come on James it's seven p.m. I think you've put in the necessary hours,' she got off the desk and looked at him expectantly.

'Okay, but only because of the scampi fries,' he got up and followed her out saying goodbye to Chas who was still working on a suspected diamond heist.

They entered the Ambercote and true to Harry's prediction Suzanne Leyton was there, Dempsey nodded to her pleasantly but didn't engage. He didn't want Harry to get all weird on him again.

Harry went off to the bar and he picked up a newspaper and started to peruse it and then became aware of the psychiatrist coming over. 'Hi,' he smiled, 'I didn't know you were a regular here. D.I. Makepeace and I are having a meeting so I'm afraid I can't invite you to join us. Got sick of sitting in the office,' he smiled pleasantly.

Makepeace joined them and greeted the other woman in a polite manner but didn't ask her to join them either. Suzanne got the hint and returned to her colleague who was looking a bit annoyed at being deserted.

'Your fan club,' Harry observed, 'still keen,' she took a sip of her drink as she looked at him over the top of the glass.

'Yeah well, I'm not, nice enough woman but I got you so that's all she wrote.' He didn't want to dwell on the subject as he knew it would only hurt Harry. 'So, what's your option for Junior.'

His ex-partner leant forward. 'There is a big charity push by the BBC to help with the famine in Africa. If Junior as the P.M.'s son could be deployed on a televised visit to highlight their plight and be shown to empathise with their situation he could then sell up his shares and publicly donate the money to the charity. He would look good even if the company folds later on. Of course, he makes no money but then neither does he embarrass the P.M.'

Dempsey nodded as he took in her animated expression. 'Well I think that's lovely, all supposing you could get him to do that. Greedy men aren't that charitable in my experience.'

'Yes, that's the fly in the ointment so to speak, but anyway Spikings could put that to the Home Secretary and I thought you might have a talk with Junior and perhaps threaten him a bit. I mean your interrogation style is a bit intimidating and you could make it clear to him what his outcomes might be if he continues to support a Ponzi scheme.'

Dempsey had wondered where he'd fit into Harry's plan and wasn't surprised it was in a role that played to his strengths. However, he'd been meticulously schooled by Spikings on the appropriate behaviour of a senior officer. 'I don't know that it would facilitate my career to scare the crap out of the P.M.s son,' the American drawled his gaze amused. 'And I'm shocked that you would suggest I use tactics that you've said you deplore on more than one occasion.'

'Yes, I have said that,' Harry agreed pleasantly. 'But Queen and Country come before personal considerations and I don't think it would hurt to deploy your talents for a positive result.'

Dempsey leaned forward and gave her a wince of a smile, 'I always deploy my talents for a positive result D.I. Makepeace, I don't intimidate people for fun. I do it cos they're being unpleasant to others which is called criminal activity or even terrorism.'

'Fair point, well what do you think of my plan,' Harry took the Scampi Fries out of her hand bag and handed them to him.

'Bribery,' he took the fries off her and opened them. 'Isn't it about time you told me about my garbage disposal of a digestive system or is it okay to poison me with additives if you want your own way about something.'

Harry laughed. 'Well you've got me there James,' she smiled at him. 'It is a good plan though isn't it?'

'It's genius,' Dempsey agreed because he did think it was a way out for the P.M.s son. He also thought that Junior might want to keep some of the money but then it would be between him and his conscience if he had one.

Makepeace looked pleased with herself. 'I'll put it to Spikings in the morning and then he can take it to the Home Office if he thinks it might work. Your part comes in later, we'll have to work out exactly when to deploy your charm offensive and in that way, it will be sanctioned by the Minister and you won't be negatively impacted.'

'Thanks,' he drank some of his beer. 'Just roll me in when you think it's appropriate,' his eyes were warm on hers. 'And since I'm being so accommodating I assume you're going to be nice to me this evening.'

'I'm always nice to you,' Harry pointed out her gaze mocking him. 'You'll have to specify what you mean by nice. On the other hand, please don't,' she saw the humorous quirk to his mouth and knew he would deliberately go further than she could handle. She remembered the time they'd been trying to aggravate Kathy, Dempsey's psychopathic stalker, into betraying her position, something about ripping her clothes off with his teeth while she'd been prattling on about tea and toast. That had made her temperature go through the roof.

'Any time you'd like me to tell you what I'd like to do to you just tell me, I'm game.' He smiled not really trying to hide his amusement.

'Yes, I'm sure you are,' Harry responded in an even tone not willing to engage as she didn't want to encourage a situation which would either make her blush or create a strong desire to leap on her ex-partner in a public place. 'What about dinner, I haven't eaten much today. I can whip up something if you like since you've been so helpful.

'I'd like that but if we're going to your place I need to get some stuff from my place first, assuming I'm staying over.' Dempsey liked the fact it was now possible to assume; it meant that he didn't have to get up at dawn to get back to his apartment for a change of clothes.

'Okay, you do that and I'll see you shortly.' Harry confirmed he was welcome and got up and Dempsey followed her out as they went their separate ways both feeling happy at the thought of the evening ahead.

-oOo-

Later that night Dempsey lay in bed with Harry resting on his chest and felt a warm feeling of satisfaction; he'd always felt comfortable in her room. At some of his darkest moments he'd felt drawn to come here and wait for her to acknowledge him; watching her as she slept.

'What are you thinking about,' Harry lifted her head and looked at him her blue eyes held a warmth that momentarily distracted her fiancé.

He kissed her hair to give himself a moment. 'Thinking about the times I broke in here; how right it always felt being in this room; comforting, like it was a good place to be when everything else was going to hell.'

Harry smiled and laughed softly. 'In a funny kind of way, I was always pleased that you felt you could come to me when you were in trouble. I used to be strict with myself and put it down to the fact we were partners and the strong loyalty you felt to that bond even when I hoped there was something more.'

'Well there was but we were both too chicken to admit it or admit it first,' he rolled her onto her back so he could look down at her. 'I mean I knew you liked me and might even be attracted to me but I didn't think I fit the role of Lady's Harriet's boyfriend but then you weren't really getting any so I thought I might have a chance.' His warm, amused gaze took away any offence.

Harry traced his mouth with her fingertip, 'I have to admit that the men in my set didn't really light my fire probably because they didn't race around fighting crime and taking unbelievable risks. I have to wonder if the attraction will wane now we're both in desk jobs so to speak.' Her mocking gaze teased him as she was actually pleased he wasn't risking his life every day.

James bit her finger-tip ignoring that dig at his new position. 'I think you'd be impressed at the chess game I play with the suits,' he rubbed his nose against hers. 'And the fact that I do venture out of the office to direct operations from time to time so it ain't all budgets, recruitment and policy stuff.' His mouth feathered her jaw and then moved to her neck cos he knew her weak spots by now and wasn't ashamed of ruthlessly exploiting the knowledge gained.

'Do you miss it? I mean it isn't as exciting, I find that but I suppose having a relationship with you keeps the adrenaline level up. I'm never quite sure what you're going to do next.' She then gave a gasp of surprise as he lived up to that reputation and her mouth met his passionately responding to the feeling of his body invading hers.

He broke the kiss to gain valuable oxygen, 'told you I wasn't polite in bed,' his voice was rough velvet and his shoulder muscles were bunched as they supported his weight as he held position above her.

'You did,' she moaned his name softly as they synchronised their movements, at times like this cool, calm and collected Lady Harriet disappeared and she was a fiery, passionate, woman in James' arms which surprised both of them a bit but at least it was a nice surprise.


	14. Chapter 14

Dempsey had made an appointment with the Prime Minister's son through the Home Office Minister and Junior was now sat in one of the interrogation rooms. The Chief Inspector let him kick his heels for fifteen minutes and then went to meet him with D.I. Jarvis in attendance.

'Chief Inspector James Dempsey,' he sat down and didn't bother to offer his hand to Junior as they'd all got used to calling him. 'I guess you're wondering why you're here.'

'I can't imagine why I'm here or why you were late for the appointment,' the younger man seethed. 'I'm a busy man and I don't have time to sit around and wait for some copper.'

'You will address me as Chief Inspector or sir,' Dempsey's expression darkened and his jaw squared and he could see the other man look somewhat taken aback. 'My job is to deal with serious crime, terrorists, psychopath's and mafia. I'm kind of annoyed that I have to waste my time and the taxpayers' money to warn you about getting your name and the Prime Minister's name mixed up in a Ponzi scheme. Get me the file,' he looked over at Chas.

Jarvis went outside the room and brought in a number of buff folders on Mason and Steers. Dempsey selected two photos, 'you know these gentlemen.'

'They are business associates, Junior blustered as his colour heightened. He'd been aware for some time that making ridiculous amounts of money from a business venture must be more than just good fortune.

'Answer the question yes or no,' Dempsey slammed back.

'Yes, I know them what of it?' The P.M.s son looked distinctly uncomfortable as he hadn't liked the way Mason and Steers had identified him as a shareholder and his parents hadn't liked it either.

'They are persons of interest to SI10, the Met's Fraud Squad, the Home and Foreign Office, do you know what a person of interest means.' Dempsey steady gaze was somewhat intimidating.

'I'm not aware of the term,' the P.M.s son looked rattled and he didn't find the Chief Inspector's manner very pleasant most people were deferential to him because of his parents.

'He's not aware of the term,' Dempsey remarked to D.I. Jarvis in a conversational tone. 'D.I. Jarvis inform the gentleman what a person of interest is.'

'It means that we suspect the person of wrongdoing but they have as yet not been charged with an offence. It also means they are being monitored by the police.' Chas indicated the files.

'It means we've got our eyes on them,' the Chief Inspector responded. 'This business deal, with your face fronting it is a Ponzi scheme and that means that the shares are worth nothing once confidence in the company wanes. So, that means a lot of people are going to lose money and you're the face they're going to be gunning for. That don't matter to me much other than it will look bad for the Prime Minister of this country.' The last part of the sentence was yelled at the Prime Minister's son.

'It's not illegal,' Junior blustered trying to recover ground as he was beginning to feel humiliated.

'Actually, it is,' Dempsey responded tersely, 'but we'll leave that to the Fraud Office cos that's their job. 'Now, as I understand it, the Home Office have got an option for you that will save your reputation and make you look like one of the good guys. I suggest you take it and then I can spend my time on the day job.

He got up and glared at the P.M.s son, 'I've got serious threats to this country to deal with so I don't want to waste my time on a greedy, little punk like you, you got that. If I have to see you again next time I won't be so nice.' The disparaging tone that the American officer used showed how much he despised the man in front of him.

'How dare you try and intimidate me,' the Prime Minister's son blustered getting out of his seat. 'The Prime Minister will hear of this and you'd better watch your step.'

'The Prime Minister will definitely hear about this; the Prime Minister will hear that the son and heir has enhanced the reputation of the family and been a credit to his parents.' He turned to Jarvis. 'D.I. Jarvis escort the gentleman to his next appointment and bring him back to me if he has any questions.'

Both officers knew that Junior wouldn't have any further questions because it was very unlikely he would want to meet the Chief Inspector again.

Makepeace strolled into Dempsey's office a couple of hours later looking rather amused. 'I watched the interview and I think you were rather harsh to poor Rupert. The Home Office has been on the phone to Spikings and Junior has accepted their recommendation.'

'Your recommendation,' James smiled at her. 'I wasn't that tough on him just jerked him around a little, all's well that ends well as they say. Your pop called; wants me to go down to Winfield Hall for a man to man chat.'

'Oh, that's probably about the pre-nuptial agreement and any children we have will have to be Winfield's not Dempsey's. Well I suppose we can get your name in somewhere,' she demurred.

'Nice of you,' he growled. 'I ain't changing my name angel, and if we have kids then they'll be Dempsey's as far as I'm concerned. You can call them what you like on the family tree.'

'I know it must all seem strange to you,' she sympathised, 'it's just family traditions are important to Freddie and to me.'

James got up and came towards her putting his arm around her shoulder. 'If something's important to you sweetheart, then it's important to me too. Let me take you to dinner and you can tell me all about it.' He picked up his jacket and guided her out of his office. He could see the staff watching them both but ignored it, everyone liked to gossip it was a fact of life and he guessed there was some level of fascination because they were both senior officers.

'I've a strong desire to put my hand on your ass,' he grinned at her. 'That would give them something to chew on.'

'It certainly would but I strongly recommend against it as it wouldn't be good for your health or well-being,' Harry quipped back.

'It wouldn't huh,' a smile tugged at his mouth as they rounded a corner and were out of the general view. At that point he ran his hand over her rear. 'I don't know that feels great,' he laughed as she grabbed his hand and glared at him. 'Okay sorry, nobody saw what are you worried about.'

'It's not funny Dempsey, I'm a senior officer and I don't want people talking about me in that way. We keep our private life, private and that's my last word on the subject.'

'Yes Ma'am,' she was so uptight about work but he guessed the guys did tend to be on the chauvinistic side. 'As long as we can get somewhere private soon cos you look really hot in that prim little suit. Just want to slide my hand up your thigh….

'That's enough James,' Harry's colour heightened and she flashed him a warning look.

Dempsey laughed and put his arm around her waist and hugged her to him. He loved being around Makepeace and he was only teasing her. 'How hungry are you?'

'You offered to take me to dinner,' she flashed him a knowing look. 'And I accepted so we are going to dinner James because I know exactly how hungry you are.'

'Yeah, you got me there.' He opened the car door for her and felt a deep satisfaction that he knew how this evening was going to end and he could wait cos Harry was worth waiting for.

The end.


End file.
